Naruto's Hour of Darkness
by SteadyUniverse
Summary: A certain demon takes an interest in Uzumaki Naruto and decides to help him survive in the dangerous Elemental Nations. But this assistance does not come without a price. Demons and Shinobi make for a volatile mix and Naruto's journey suddenly gets a whole lot more deadly when other demons take an interest in his world. Can Naruto and his vassals stave off the forces of Darkness?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Disgaea

* * *

"Jeez. I spent so much time in that kunai."

"What did you just say, Naruto?" Kakashi asked, his sensitive ears were only barely able to pick up the blond's mutter. "You spent time in that kunai?"

"Umm..." Naruto seemed to think for a moment and then decided. "Yes, I was in the kunai. It's a very long story and I don't want to get into it."

"You are so weird, Naruto." Sakura said. "Always mumbling..."

Kakashi silently agreed and he shook his head. This was not at all how he expected Minato's son to be. The boy was strange. Very energetic and capable, but also distracted, as though he were a world away. A touch of genuine talent and ingenuity shone through the obfuscating stupidity every now and then, but those moments were few and far between. "Naruto if you care so much about your kunai you can dive into the lake and go get it. On that note, today's lessons are complete. We'll meet back up on Monday for a few missions." The jounin was gone in a poof of smoke.

Sakura turned to the last of the Uchiha. "Sasuke, do you want to walk home together?"

"I'm not in the mood for you today, just go home." Sakura looked disappointed but seemed otherwise unaffected by the complete rejection she had just suffered.

"Ok, see you later, Sasuke-kun." She left to go home.

Sasuke watched in silence and he noticed that she still refused to acknowledge Naruto's existence after nearly 3 months of being on the same Genin Team. This team that he had been assigned to was a farce. To put both him and Naruto on one team was an anomaly. The top three students in a graduating class had not been put together in nearly 40 years. But the personalities in this team clashed in terrible ways.

He was well aware that he was not the easiest person to be around – his silence made people uncomfortable but he did not care. For what reason should he interact with those unable to further his goals? Naruto had a huge social stigma against him and most people were swayed by the rumors that floated around Konoha, none of which were true. When he was younger Naruto had been an irritating prankster but around the same time as the Massacre, his personality changed and he turned into a slightly crazed space-case. He would drift off in midsentence and walk somewhere else or start laughing like a loon for no apparent reason.

Sakura could be overwhelming at times to say the least. Sasuke did not enjoy having the girl on his team. She was a liability in his eyes. They had only performed D-Rank missions until now, but Sasuke knew for sure that when things got dangerous Sakura would be of no help. Naruto was the only one in the Academy who could match the Uchiha in combat, and even now he suspected that Naruto was more advanced than himself. The very thought was maddening.

Kakashi was one of the least responsible jonin in Konoha and one of its most powerful. Knowing his sensei's reputation, Sasuke was unsure of whether he would be an effective presence during combat. Would Kakashi drift off during a fight and start reading Icha-Icha? The man's idiocy was boundless.

His blond teammate stood across from him. Sasuke had nearly forgotten his presence when the boy spoke, "I can tell that you want something from me. What is that?"

"You've been hiding something." Sasuke's eyes were wide with fury as the words left him – he had held this in for weeks now, "There is a reason that you are so far ahead of the rest of us, you're hiding some hidden talent or technique from Sakura and I. Even in the Academy you were always just ahead of me! If not for written tests you could have taken Rookie of the Year! You act like an idiot, but you always hold something back. And now this? You were IN a kunai? I know that wasn't a slip of the tongue."

"So what? Since when are shinobi required to be full-disclosure?"

"Naruto, you don't understand! I need power." Sasuke resisted the urge to grab Naruto by his collar. He had the distinct feeling that he might lose a digit if he tried to do that.

A grin played its way across the Jinchuriki's face. "Sasuke, let me tell you what, I'm going to make you an offer."

"What kind of offer?"

"I'll only tell you if you do something for me."

"And that is?"

"Go get my kunai from the bottom of the lake." Naruto said in a deadpan tone.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "So you want me to be your errand boy?"

"That's a good word for it! But, no, you wont be an errand boy. Something far more useful. Anyway, shut up and get my kunai."

The Uchiha scowled at the way that he was being dismissed but he decided to play along. If this turned out to be a waste of his time, he would put Naruto at the bottom of this lake, along with his kunai. He walked to the lake's edge, inhaled deeply, and dove in.

Naruto watched, amusement clear on his face as Sasuke searched for his tool. In his defense, this was honestly a kunai worth diving into a lake for. Naruto had descended quite a few levels in that particular weapon. It was razor sharp and always would remain so. It was lean and light and seemed to grab your hand while you needed it and to flow away when you threw it. It wasn't perfect but it was getting there.

When Sasuke finally found the kunai he kicked swiftly up to the surface. He could tell, even underwater, that this weapon was different. As soon as he broke to the surface his eyes were locked on the weapon. And yet he was surprised. He was expecting an ornately made blade or a delicately carved handle and yet he saw a plain kunai. His eyes went from the wet steel to Naruto, standing on the shore.

"Now do you want to hear what I have to say?"

* * *

Naruto's apartment was nearly exactly what Sasuke expected it to be like. It was messy and covered in scrolls and clothes and ramen cups. There were a wide variety of weapons all around the place as well. Sasuke saw swords and staffs and shields and armor. There was a bow and a bo staff and a strange claw like weapon and many other kinds. Which was what he hadn't expected.

"Are all these weapons like this kunai?" Sasuke, who was still holding the knife, asked with wonder in his eyes.

"No, these are just weapons that I came across..." Naruto said evasively. "The good weapons, like that one, are put away, nicely. They're valuable.

"Ok, whatever. Why did we come here?"

Naruto grew serious. He went to a nearby closet. Sasuke could barely get a look but he could swear that he saw a red pyramid in the closet that Naruto slid over a few feet. Sasuke's eyebrow quirked. What the hell was this?

"No one can hear us now. That pyramid you saw was a no entry geo-symbol. Nobody hears anything because nothing can leave this space, not even sound or air."

"What the hell are you talking about, Naruto?"

"This is what I have to show you. I'm not like normal people, Sasuke." Naruto grinned. "I'm a demon."

Sasuke's body shifted into a more aggressive stance. "I don't know what you're getting at here, Naruto. Is this some sort of joke? Its not funny."

"Seriously, I'm a demon" Naruto insisted; his teammate was clearly not buying it. He contemplated his options. He could try his best to talk Sasuke into belief or he could cram the idea into his skull. With fear.

_Using the fox's energy to intimidate the Uchiha would be foolish, use your own demonic energy. It will be enough, for this one_.

Naruto nodded at the sage advice and let his demonic presence flare off of him. Thin wisps of energy drifted away from the blond, visible to the eye, with a slight red sheen. The Uchiha began to feel a bit uncomfortable in it's presence, as the power seemed foreign and quite powerful. "See?"

Sasuke leapt back several feet, kunai in hand.

Naruto laughed, "No need to get all defensive, trust me it wouldn't even help." He let the malevolent aura subside. "I'm not a bad demon, I'm no threat to you. There are other worlds that need attending to. Maybe later I'll do something about this place, but for now, I could care less." Sasuke seemed a little less on guard. Naruto continued, "I should just get this out quickly. Sasuke, if you make a pact with me, you will gain power faster than you thought possible."

"A pact?" His mind was racing, how could he even begin to consider this question? "What's the catch, there's always a catch with you demons, right?"

"There is a catch, but it only ensures that you will be powerful and that you will have plenty of fighting experience against the most powerful of opponents." Sasuke's eyes lit up. "You will be my vassal as I become the most powerful demon in the Netherworld. I have a certain someone that I need to overcome. I feel that we are very similar in that regard."

"So we do this, I become your servant?"

"That's right. But don't worry, I have actual servants, you wont need to do anymore than to fight when and where I say you should fight."

Sasuke appraised his blond teammate. Was this all true? Was it possible that it could be? The fearsome energy could have been anything, perhaps an unknown bloodline of some sort. "I need proof. How can I believe you and all of this? It's all ridiculous."

Naruto smirked at him. "Sasuke, let me show you something." The blond began to walk away and he led Sasuke into his bedroom. Unlike the rest of the home it was immaculate, though simply furnished. A smallish bed, table (upon which a scroll was unfurled), chair and bookshelf. On top of the bookshelf resting safely on a stand, was a sword. It was quite long, double-egded and made of a gleaming silver. There was a small triangle cut out on both sides of the blade about midway through its length.

"This blade, Leivatein, was improved using the same method as that kunai. Inside of each weapon exists a whole world, more massive than you could imagine. Monsters live in each and every tool that the living use to kill one another. These worlds exist in every weapon you have ever held. They feed on the death that weapons bring into the world." Sasuke eyed the sword on the stand and the kunai that he still held in his hand. "These weapons are different because someone descended into that hell, that Item World; and purged it of those monsters. I did that kunai. Someone far more powerful than I, made that sword. That is why it is my treasure."

"Who made that?" With this knowledge in mind, the blade seemed different to Sasuke. It was exactly how a sword was supposed to be, there was no other way to say it. The edges glistened like glass in the sun. It's proportions were exact and so utterly balanced and measured that Sasuke was unsure if what he was seeing could possibly be truth. "It is... Breathtaking."

"The man who made that sword is the same one that I long to surpass."

"You have a long way to go." The Uchiha said with a shake of his head.

"From what I hear, Sasuke, so do you."

* * *

"Are you sure you want to do this? It is quite likely that you could die a gazillion miles away from home fighting some gigantic flaming demon dragon guy. I would wager that your first priority is vengeance, correct?" Sasuke nodded.

_Just as I had predicted, _an all too familiar voice spoke in Naruto's mind. _Make the contract, Naruto._

Naruto continued his questioning, it would be unfair not to let Sasuke know just what he was getting into. "You would be doing this dying solely because of my whims and ambition, you realize this?" Another nod. "I will be honest, you are going to gain great power in time. But the enemies we will face later on will be quite... Dangerous. Knowing that you may be robbed of your life and your life's goal, are you sure that you want to make the contract?"

"No amount of danger is enough to stray my path." He fixed Naruto with a hard stare, "Naruto, I can now appreciate and tolerate your presence for one simple reason. You are a path to strength, all of this demon nonsense I couldn't care less about. My life is my goal, I AM VENGEANCE. Itachi will pay fo-" Sasuke seemed to catch himself and forcibly regained his cool. "There is nothing that will stop me, Naruto. I will fight and die for you if I must – but in return, you must never restrain me from achieving my destiny."

"Sasuke, I'll arrange a warp portal to his damn front door if I get the opportunity."

"Then we understand each other."

"Welcome to your life as my Vassal. Congratulations." A hand shake sealed the deal. Sasuke felt woozy for a moment and just as he pulled his hand away he felt a burning sensation at the end of his thumb. He looked down and his hand was actually letting off smoke.

"What is this?

Naruto smirked toothily and answered, "My mark! You didn't believe a handshake was enough did you? Check your thumb, vassal."

"Are you..." Onto the tip of his thumb was now etched a tiny black spiral. "...serious?" All of a sudden reality sunk in for Sasuke and the full weight of his impulsive decision fell squarely on his shoulders.

His new master, Naruto, clapped him heartily on the back and said with gusto, "DAMN STRAIGHT I'm serious, VASSAL! Now we celebrate this most auspicious of occasions!"

His eye twitched at the declaration. "How?"

"BOOZE!"

* * *

Sasuke thoroughly regretted ever encountering alcohol as he stumbled back to his lonely compound. The headache that accompanied the morning light was so constant and aggravating and mind numbing that he was considering swearing drinking off for life. Legally, both he and Naruto (and any genin) were allowed to purchase and consume the stuff, but it was not common that 12 year olds drank recreationally. The blond idiot had insisted that they do it because of tradition and that the first Vassal was a very meaningful thing to an Overlord.

Despite himself, Sasuke had to admit that he had a good time. Naruto, when he wasn't being weird and air-headed was actually good company. It also helped that the alcohol had loosened the stoic Uchiha up a good deal. Naruto showed him around his apartment a bit and they spoke for a while about a potential weapon for Sasuke. Nothing sprang to mind and they decided to wait until they could test a few out. That was early in the night and so they were still quite composed, if more talkative.

By the nights end they had loosened up considerably and Sasuke remembered with a grimace that the subject of FEELINGS of all things had somehow came into play. The exchange was short - but the angry young man was positive that he had broken his trademark cold exterior while under the influence of that terrible stuff. _Alcohol – the worst thing ever. _Sasuke decided after little deliberation.

He shuffled past the empty houses and was thankful that for once he was in too much pain to contemplate his massacred family and happy days before Itachi went psycho. It was all too much to bear at times, living in this empty husk of a district. What good was all this land and space with no one to fill it? He could remember a sea of raven heads drifting along throughout the day; happily continuing to serve and protect Konoha. The Uchiha had been such a proud people... Apparently not even the sting of a hangover could distract Sasuke from his angst and hatred.

Sasuke was damn-near excited over the prospect of becoming Naruto's vassal. The power that his newly adopted master promised him was all too enticing. He would seek Naruto out later in the day and demand that they get started doing whatever being a vassal entailed. But first, he would have a tall glass of orange juice and crawl straight back into bed. His brain was still pounding out a steady beat against the inside of his skull. To his tired, vengeful mind, the pounding sounded like the drums of war.

The knocking at Naruto's door managed to tear him away from his latest project. He was working on a way to create stronger armor for his Prinny squad to use during combat. The team of forsaken souls were the only fighting force that Naruto could assemble with the small amount of influence and power he had in the Netherworld. He currently had 4 Prinnys working around the clock to fix up the small stone keep he had managed to adopt as his own in an isolated corner of a barren wasteland- well removed from higher traffic areas of the Netherworld.

His Advisor had informed him of what to look for in a base of operations. The most important factor was, naturally, location. Naruto had been advised to find a place that had once thrived but that was now desolate and empty. In other words, a total dump. His Prinny Squad made short work of the search and had spent the last several months making the dump hospitable.

There was little for Naruto to do in the mean time. He had been advised to take up seals and the sealing arts while in his home world; the ninja art would supplement the convoluted enchantments on most demonic items nicely. His Advisor told him that an enchantment demon was LUDICROUSLY expensive to hire and that he would most likely be Overlord before such a purchase was viable. At the time, Naruto had merely shrugged it off, but now that he was hunched over his table – hands covered in ink and head full of strange symbols and kanji he had never heard of – he decided that an enchantment demon would make things simpler and would look into securing one.

_You're wasting your time, kid. A high-level demon like that would never join the ranks of one so puny and untested as you; even if you had the cash. You've never even flayed an enemy alive and hung them from your rafters! How do you expect to gain respect?_

"Whatever, whatever – the flaying and murder will come later. Once I've organized a decent fighting force and trained myself up a bit. Isn't that what you told me would work?"

_**KNOCK KNOCK**_

_Feh, that's just cuz you're weak. If it were me-_

Naruto snorted and yanked at the Pravda Necklace secured around his neck. "You'd be trapped in a piece of your own jewelery and forcing a 12 year old ninja to fight your old battles for you."

_I'm not forcing – I'm coercing you into it._

_**KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK**_

"Same difference. Anyway, I know you want the best for me, I do appreciate it, you know! If not for you I'd still be-"

_Enough of that appreciative garbage. I saw an opportunity in a misguided young man with latent Demonic potential and decided to help you help me! You are nothing more than an overrated scooter to me! Wheeling me where I need to be in order to exact vengeance! Don't you know who I am? I AM THE GREAT LAHARL! You, Uzumaki Naruto, are just around to make sure people don't forget the former Overlord- GREATEST OF THEM ALL! - Laharl, son of Krichevskoy! If anyone asks I'm a negative influence and I've been trying to get you to drink human blood for years now!_

"Jeez, I get it. You're a demon. You're scary. You'd think you would give up on this talk after so many years of being nice to me."

_**KNOCK KNOCK KNOCKOCKOCK**_

_Stop sassing me and get the door! It's probably that prissy vassal of yours._

Naruto was broken out of his thoughts once again by knocking at the door. He made a face as he realized that his guest, most likely Sasuke, had been waiting for a few minutes now. The blond jinchuriki/demon leapt to his feet and attempted to smudge some of the ink staining his hands onto his shirt- which was black anyway. He opened the door just as Sasuke was about to knock again, quite forcefully and was rewarded with several thuds against his head courtesy of one angry Uchiha.

Sasuke took in his disheveled appearance and asked, "Am I interrupting something?"

"Nah, dont worry about it." Naruto responded as he stepped aside so Sasuke could enter his home. "So what's up, vassal?"

"Are you always going to call me that?"

"Probably. I might call you Lackey or Henchman to switch it up every now and then. Or how about Minion?!"

"Oh, gods. What did I involve myself with?"

Naruto thwacked Sasuke on the back good-naturedly. "Hey, it's all cool! Today, we make a foray into the Netherworld so you can check out my digs!"

Sasuke nodded before he eyed his teammate. "Why don't you behave like this in public? People wouldn't think you're so weird if you stopped muttering to yourself all the time and acted like a normal person. Or at least a very annoying normal person."

"My Advisor has told me many a time, that one should wear 4 faces. One for the Masses and people you generally don't give a damn about – who's gonna think about an airheaded wierdo more than they have to? One for your allies and friends – the current charming persona you see before you now. Another for you enemies – should be cruel and merciless, so they never raise a hand against you again. And the last is one you wear in private – your true self."

"I see. Who is this advisor, exactly?"

The blond smirked and said, "An old friend of mine. You might get to meet him one day, if we meet someone talented with enchantments or runes."

"What the hell does that have to do with it?" Sasuke asked impatiently.

"Let's just say he's indisposed at the moment. He's a little... Cramped where he is... Although he's not one to HANG around people like us!" Naruto laughed for a good while at his pun and he lifted the Pravda Necklace up for Sasuke to see.

Sasuke, however made no connection with the Necklace and Naruto's mysterious advisor. He chalked up the confusing laughter to Naruto's general craziness.

* * *

Sasuke looked around the inside of Naruto's closet and aside from a few weapons and scrolls, an umbrella and several coats – he could see three red pyramids, virtually devoid of features, each about one foot in height with a square base also roughly one foot wide. "So what the hell is this, geo-things, right?"

"These, my dear minion, are geo-symbols. You drop them on a geo-panel and you get a certain effect. There are a whole load of varieties, but these are pretty common."

The Uchiha looked down at the squat pyramids with wonder. "What do they do?"

"I'm very glad you asked that! This one on the left," he gestured to said geo-symbol, "is the No-Entry geo symbol I told you about before. It restricts any sort of departure or entry into a designated space, specifically the confines of my apartment. This one here is a geo-symbol that helps you learn faster and your training goes a bit quicker. An Experience geo-symbol so to speak."

Sasuke's eyes bulged at the implications of the symbol.

"Yeah. Exactly." Naruto said with much satisfaction. "Being a demon has it's perks, no?"

"This is getting better and better, Naruto."

Naruto smirked at that and said grandly, "You've haven't even begun to reap the benefits of being my vassal. This last one is the one we are using today, it is a Warp geo symbol. It connects two separate spaces both linked by a geo-panel. This is how we will leave the village today."

"Good, let's get started."

"Eager, neh?" The blond answered as he shoved the geo-symbol into position beside the already active No-Entry symbol. "Step onto the glowing red square please."

"What square?"

He sighed and then thwacked his forehead with an open palm. "Oh, right. You aren't a demon yet – you can't see it."

"WHAT?!"

"Don't worry dont worry, you're not gonna grow horns. You'll barely even be a demon." At this, Sasuke seemed to calm slightly. But he was not happy.

"Explain yourself."

Naruto 'tsked' at his new vassal and corrected, "Explain yourself, sir." Seeing that Sasuke was not at all amused, he decided to press onward. "We can deal with common courtesy later, I guess. Anyway, in order to deal with the kind of baddies we are going to be bumping heads with, you need to get... Upgraded, basically. The only change will be to your chakra system, which will also end up creating more changes to your body as you become stronger. These changes however will merely serve to make your body more efficient, stronger and resilient. A body worthy of serving as my first vassal and right hand man."

Sasuke seemed pacified for the moment and Naruto felt it was safe to continue. "Since you can't see it, I'll go first. Just step where I do, alright?" He received a nod in return.

"Alright. See you on the other side." Naruto took a step to his right and one step forward and with a small flash of light and a little 'pop' he was gone.

Sasuke eyed the patch of floor warily for a few moments before he threw caution to the wind and followed after his new master.

* * *

"What is this place?" The Uchiha asked as he searched the room with his eyes. It was a dingy little room with wide, coarse, stone bricks lining the walls and floor. He had to squint a bit as the only available light was a solitary torch perched over what appeared to be a shoddily made wooden coffin. Naruto had settled himself directly beside the coffin, the torch at his back, his face obscured by darkness.

Naruto's hand went to rest on the coffin. "This is a tomb." He gestured around the barren room and continued, "An unfitting tomb for a great demon... Well, it was a tomb."

"It used to be a tomb? What is it now?"

"A useful little doorway." Naruto opened the coffin and inside was an opaque mass of energy, swirling in on itself and flashing, melting, changing from blue to white and back and forth between. As he took in Sasuke's bewildered expression, Naruto let out a chuckle. "So now you've seen your first Warp Portal. Impressed?"

"Where did this thing come from?"

"When this great demon was sent to this world – a form of exile – he was stripped of his body." Naruto thumped on the cruddy wooden panels of the coffin. "Believe it or not, this coffin is a magical object of serious power. This coffin used the demon's own power to annihilate its body and used the excess energy to jump into this world. If not for this demon's great ability with energy manipulation – he would have been destroyed forever – cast into oblivion, the most final form of death."

"I see. Who was this demon?"

"A very important one. The former Overlord, and my benefactor and mentor." Naruto removed the Pravda Necklace from himself and held it up toward Sasuke. The entire necklace was gold and a large ruby was centered in the middle. "Meet King Laharl. son of Kritchevskoy, and universally recognized as the most powerful demon in quite a few realities. He is the reason for my success, and for my current level of ability."

Sasuke reassessed the amulet his teammate always wore. He had chalked it up to some form of vanity on the part of Naruto, but it turned out that he was wearing one of the most powerful beings in existence around his neck? "Isn't that dangerous? That much power would surely kill you."

Naruto snorted and replied, "Feh, I don't have access to any of his power. The necklace is magical anyway so it has some benefits. All of his physical and spiritual might was destroyed by this accursed coffin. All that remains of the great King Laharl is an imprint of his soul and of his mind." He clutched the gold amulet tighter. "His existence is an unstable one at best. I seek to stabilize him as soon as possible."

"So this became a door how?"

"Well, I reverse engineered it." The blond said with a grin as he put his Advisor back around his neck, "It still had so much leftover energy because Laharl had so much power that it was very simple to 'rewire' it and stabilize it as a Warp Portal."

_Yeah, after I told you how to do it._

"Anyway, if you would like, you can jump right in and we can get started."

* * *

"THESE ARE YOUR OTHER SERVANTS?!"

"Yeah, so what?" Naruto asked, absolutely nonplussed. To his eye the Prinny team was a cheap and effective source of labor. It was essentially slavery, but the Prinny's were here to serve for the sins they committed while alive! Who was Naruto to interfere with justice?

"They're pathetic! Look at them, they're lounging around! That one's eating pizza?!" Sasuke was enraged, somehow. Sure the Prinnys weren't that intimidating but they had done everything he asked of them and they deserved a little bit of a break.

"Don't worry they can hold their own. Plus they did a great job in here!" He gestured around the stone chamber. This was the "main room" (only room) of the keep and the Prinnys had patched the place up quite nicely. The holes in the ceiling were gone, there were now several doors separating this room from the others, and there was even some furniture placed around. "Keeseling!"

"Aye aye, dood?" Much to Sasuke's horror, the one eating pizza looked up and did a lazy little salute.

"Nice job in here! Next month I think we might be able to afford a decent wooden floor! Hmm... Or maybe a rug."

Sasuke's vision of Naruto as a powerful demon was all but dashed to the ground. What had he done to himself? Was Naruto's idea of an upgrade actually just turning him into a damn Penguin? "Naruto! This was not what I had in mind. I thought you employed demons!"

"Eh, technically they're a form of demon. Plus I never said I had other vassals! You are my first vassal, remember? These guys, are the only vassals Laharl managed to retain, I took over the reins so to speak." Naruto said as he walked over and grabbed a slice of pizza from Keeseling's box. "Wow Keeseling, Gehenna Sardines? That's pricy, watch our budget, alright?"

"Of course, Naruto! But, remember we found that Legendary Muscle Ace, in a cupboard over there? Good money from that one, dood." Keeseling said as he raised a purple flipper towards said cupboard. "Some idiot must have left it behind. Also, who's the bitch?"

Naruto snorted and said, "Oh, this is Sasuke, he works for us now."

"I'm a bitch?! AT LEAST I'M NOT A PENGUIN!" Sasuke shouted, enraged both by the Prinny's remark and by Naruto's flippant attitude.

Keeseling ripped the green beanie off his head and threw it to the ground. "YOU TAKE THAT BACK!" The three other Prinnys were also enraged by the 'P' Word and stood from their various positions.

"Settle down guys, Sasuke, come have pizza!" Naruto said as he munched away at his slice. He was ignored.

"You wanna go, Penguin?!"

"Ever tasted a Prinny's foot before?!"

"Ever tasted a kunai?" Sasuke ground out as he pulled out the very same kunai that Naruto had let him keep. Apparently it was a Lvl10 Kunai, whatever that meant.

"You wanna taste my blades?"

"Woah woah woah, Sasuke. Keeseling's out of your league." Naruto said from his spot on the ground. He was still ignored.

"What blades? You stupid, stuffed, penguin-looking, wannabe, FAT!, demon!" He poked Keeseling in his stomach as he shouted each insult an inch from the Prinny's beak.

"OH! YOU'RE DEAD NOW, PRETTY BOY!"

Naruto finally decided to get involved and ran between the two. "Listen, if you guys are gonna fight – We're gonna do this right. Sasuke I'm going to give you an option." He turned to one of the other Prinnys and said, "Jobin, go get the Demon Water."

Keeseling sighed and reached into the pouch that all Prinny's wore and pulled out his twin blades, jagged and worn from years of combat. "Of course you gotta make it tougher on my old self."

"Not necessarily, Keeseling." He waited until Jobin came waddling back holding a small vial of clear liquid. "This is Demon Water, Sasuke. Once you drink it you will feel the benefits of being my Vassal. Essentially you'll become stronger based on my level of ability because you will borrow a part of my Mana. It's actually more of an investment on my part because eventually I'll also receive strength from you."

"What of it?"

"You can either drink this before, or after, you battle Keeseling."

Sasuke contemplated the clear vial and then the Prinny who was holding his blades out before him. The Uchiha snorted and said, "Give me the Water."

Naruto grinned and said,"Too bad, I was looking forward to watching you get made a fool of. You still will of course, but it won't be as embarrassing."

"Whatever, whatever, just hand it over." After a moment of silent contemplation, Sasuke upended the slightly glowing liquid into his mouth - PAIN! SHEER EXCRUCIATING PAIN! - It burned its way down his tongue and past his throat where it settled in a pool of molten lava in the bottom of his stomach. He fell to the ground, hard, on his knees, hands clutching at his own body. The fire, the flames, heat, magma, burning, seared its way all through every fiber and nerve in his body and for a moment steam was pouring out of his back. Invisible fire shot down to his toes and then collected in his stomach and then out to his hands and back. It rode his spine upwards into his brain and he could swear he was boiling alive inside his own body and then the FIRE inside of him ceased, if only for a moment. He slumped over sweating and retching until once more the fire burnt away at him, at his eyes! His eyes began to fuse hydrogen atoms into helium and burnt away at him like the sun flaring its rays and he tried in vain to smother the nonexistent fire with his hands.

Naruto watched, mouth agape.

_I forgot to mention that it really hurts if you already have a chakra system._

"That would have been nice to know before I gave it to my vassal, Laharl. I think it broke him." Naruto said as he nudged Sasuke with his foot. At least he had stopped screaming and writhing in pain.

Phil, his most useless Prinny, watched with mild disinterest and asked, "Is he dead, dood?"

"No, I don't think so." Naruto said, a little nervous. That was not pleasant to watch, the Uchiha must have been in some very serious agony to put on a display like that. He was feeling, guilty? If only he could have warned Sasuke first, maybe he would have been better prepared for the pain. "You alright, man?" Naruto asked his downed vassal as he got on a knee and placed his hand tentatively on the boy's shoulder.

"I fucking... I fucking hate you, Naruto." Sasuke ground out through gritted teeth even as he continued to try and regain his breath. He tried to keep in mind that the pain was over now and that it was all worth it for revenge, but that had been sheer torture.

Naruto laughed and clapped him on the shoulder a bit and stood up, "Good! Focus on that hate, roll it up into a ball, and go beat the shit out of Keeseling!"

"You are the worst person." Sasuke said as he groaned and panted from the ground.

Keeseling looked on with a wry smirk on his face, "Did it hurt too bad, pretty boy? Com'ere, see if I cant make it hurt worse. Don't tell me you don't wanna fight anymore?!"

Sasuke grunted and rose to his feet, swaying. In his anger he began to radiate energy, Demonic energy.

"Wooh, not too bad Sasuke! Lvl 11 right off the bat!" Naruto clicked away at a small device on his face. It was attached to his right ear and a little green window extended over his eye.

"What the hell is that?" The winded boy asked.

"A Scouter! You just turn the setting from Saiyan to Demon."

"I have no idea what that means."

"Good!"

Keeseling decided enough was enough and charged at Sasuke, knives a'blazing. "Die! Pretty boy!"

Sasuke wheeled around just in time to see the onslaught and jumped backwards a few feet. Just as he landed a knife went soaring past him, thrown by the Prinny in anger. Sasuke was amazed as before he could blink Keeseling was already following after his blade and backhanded Sasuke with his flipper. Sasuke was sent flying into a wall, creating a hole.

"MY FORTRESS!" Naruto shouted in dismay.

Sasuke was sprawled on his back and got his first view of the Netherworld, black sky, red earth, flowing magma, shriveled little black trees. "Demons... What the hell..." Sasuke muttered under his breath, just as Keeseling attempted to slam his knives into the ground, through Sasuke's stomach of course.

The Uchiha rolled away and pulled out his +10 Kunai. He slashed angrily at the Prinny who took the hit in the chest. There was a small wound but Keeseling advanced steadily and toppled Sasuke with a solid body slam. Sasuke swiped his leg along the dirt and took out the demon's flippers. He stumbled backwards, towards one of the rivers of magma that lined the landscape, and Sasuke pressed his advantage – dashing forward to perform a jumping kick that landed firmly in Keeseling stomach.

Keeseling was not hurt and grabbed him by the foot and swung him around towards the lava. Sasuke fell for just a few seconds and began to feel the heat rising off the lava but caught himself on a sharp rock that jut out of the wall. He winced as his palm began to bleed, but he pulled himself up and over the rock and launched himself away from the molten earth.

The Prinny was caught off-guard and received a punch in the beak, and then a stab in the shoulder and a kick in the throat. He fell to the ground. Sasuke stood over him, triumphant. "How'd you like that, Penguin?"

Keeseling was on his feet instantly and delivered a mighty headbutt right to Sasuke's face. The Uchiha crumbled under the attack and fell backwards, once more, toward the lava. He was convinced, it was the end for him. He would die, here in some bizarro world, killed by a fat penguin. What a way to go...

"Jeez, Keeseling, ya coulda taken it a little easy on him."

"He called me fat! And the P-word! AGAIN!"

Sasuke opened an eye to see Naruto holding him from slipping over the edge by a single finger hooked in the collar of his shirt. "You alright, Minion?"

* * *

After the battle, Naruto took a long time explaining exactly how being a demon worked. Basically there was a popular system that made it simple to determine a demon's current level of ability. These numbers were referred to as Levels. Naruto joked that the Scouter was a gag and that any demon can find the Level of another if only they learn the technique.

"So whats the point of all this?"

Naruto looked over at Keeseling, who looked over to Samhain, the last of Naruto's Prinny crew. "Well, it's best to assess your enemies before combat. If you see Lvls too high, you don't stick around."

"What's too high?" Sasuke asked.

"Awfully curious aren't you? So many questions, dood." The Prinny said with a sigh and continued, "Well, I'm around Lvl 65. Keeselings a solid 40. Jobin is pushing 60 by now, even though he's an idiot. And Phil is 25, maybe." Samhain smirked and turned to Naruto, "Your 'Master' is only around lvl 30, but he does good with what he's got. That sword of his and that necklace really help him out."

"You're just jealous because Laharl wouldn't let you use Leivateinn."

"Yeah, whatever."

_That blade isn't even that great, it was the only thing I managed to get smuggled out of my old warehouse by Samhain, Naruto. Well, and the other stuff you know about._

"But I thought it was your Sword?!" Naruto said completely disrupting the conversation.

_Well sure it was my sword, but not my Sword! You think that piece of trash deserves an Upper case?! I was using that thing back before I was the Overlord. You think that traitor hasn't been using Yoshitsuna?_

"Sorry I asked. Just don't mislead me like that."

_What a baby. I didn't raise you to be a loser._

"Shut up."

Sasuke was twitching by this point and demanded, "What the hell are you going on about, Naruto?!"

"What, is what the hell your catchprase or something? I like it, it's clever. We are basically in Hell ya know."

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!"

Samhain butted in, "Don't mind him if he stops making sense, he's just talking to his father."

"WHAT ARE YOU SAYING?" Naruto jumped towards the yellow prinny.

_FATHER?! Tell Samhain that if he ever uses that word again I will make sure that he never reincarnates and I'll put his head on a pike and then I'll feed him rotten milk, make him listen to nails on a chalk board and -_

Nartuto tuned his 'father' out and focused back on Sasuke, "Sorry about that, anyway Sasuke, we'd want to fight demons around level 40-50 because some of us can't handle much higher. I'm plenty good at attacking, but a few good hits from a Level 60 or more, and even I'm a goner." The raven-haired teenager nodded at that, his guess seemed accurate. "This is further complicated because these guys," He gestured to the Prinny squad, "Are essentially the weakest kind of demon you can get... Samhain would even have difficulty against a reasonably powered Lvl 60 Demon. Isn't that right?"

"Essentially, but I'm a Prinny General, certainly better than these other numb-skulls."

Seeing Sasuke's puzzled look, Naruto decided to elaborate, "Demons of a certain species can be of differing quality. Samhain is towards the top end, as far as Prinnys go. Jobin and Keeseling are a bit below him, Captain Prinnys. And Phil – Phil what are you doing?"

The dark blue Prinny was squatting by the newly made hole in the wall and seemed to be digging his flippers into the dirt. "Filling in this hole, dood! What's it look like?"

"Oh, alright... Well, that makes sense, Phil is somewhat useless in combat. He is a Private Prinny, after all. Manual labor is best for him." Naruto said even as the spoken of Prinny sobbed a bit and continued his work. Sasuke felt something similar to pity for the pathetic being.

"That's right, dood. You'd be better off fighting Phil if you want to train, kid." Keeseling said with a malicious glee. He just loved taking the piss out of people. "The rest of us would probably just hurt a Lvl 11 like you."

Sasuke fumed at the insult and nearly launched himself at the cocky Prinny. "Don't mind him, he's an asshole." Naruto said amicably as he put an arm out to stay his vassal. "Keeseling, chill out. Stop being an ass, and go help out Phil over there." He jerked a thumb over at the Private Prinny.

"Yeah, I should have figured, dood." Keeseling said as he waddled away from the group.

Jobin turned to Samhain, "Why's Keese mean to the new guy?"

"Because he has a chip on his shoulder." The eldest prinny responded easily. Jobin wandered off after his fellow Capt. Prinny looking for potato chips on the demon's slender shoulders.

Sasuke watched warily, "THAT's the second strongest demon you have?"

Naruto exchanged a knowing look with Samhain and then answered, "Don't underestimate Jobin, he's quite... Adept at combat."

"Downright terrifying if you ask me. You see how stupid and happy he is right now?" Sasuke could indeed see that the Prinny was stupid as Keeseling got him to work with Phil in his stead. Keeseling went off to read _Pus! Weekly_ magazine and Jobin happily dug into the dirt at Phil's instruction. "As soon as a fight starts, it's like a switch. Like a flipping fucking switch."

"Seriously, don't EVER fight Jobin. EVER." Naruto stressed to his new vassal.

"Alright, I get it." Sasuke said as he looked around the stone keep once more. "So now that I've drank the demon water, what do we do now?"

Samhain snorted, "Whaddya think? We go out and kill something. We are demons after all."

* * *

Omake:

"Hey, Keeseling, Samhain said there was a chip on your shoulder?" Jobin asked as he waddled over to the Prinny who's flippers were caked in dirt.

Keeseling turned over to his dumb comrade and said, "What are you on about? I don't have any chips."

Jobin insisted, "Samhain said there was a **chip **on your **SHOULDER**, where is it?"

"Ahhh... I think it was an expression, it means I'm arrogant or something." Keeseling said carefully.

The other purple Prinny was not convinced, "Where is the chip. You know I love Evilitos!"

"You ate the last bag last week!" Keeseling pleaded with his fellow prinny, "Just don't turn into the mean-guy ok?!"

"**WHY NOT? You know the mean-guy always gets what he wants. Now give me what I want or I might have to become...**" Fire seemed to shine in Jobin's eyes and he took a small waddle forward, "**A little MEAN.**"

"OH, MEPHISTO! JUST NOT IN THE FACE!"

_*A series of thuds. The sound of bones cracking. A small whine, MORE THUDS! "Oww!" **"SHUT UP!" **Sobbing and a bit of a gargling choking noise.*_

"Jobin, snacktime!" Samhain said hurriedly as he waved a bag of chips in the air. Phil who had edged away as soon as the 'switch' was flipped, cowered behind Naruto watching in fear.

"That is NOT normal." Sasuke whispered and tried to be as still as possible.

Naruto answered stiffly with a false smile on his face, "Its not. We all think he was a serial killer during his life." Jobin had just skipped over, waving his bloody flippers at his sides, and began to noisily consume the Evilitos - apparently unconcerned by the blood that had seeped into them from his flippers.

Samhain leaned towards Phil and said, "Go get more chips!"

"But, Keeseling is hurt! I'm the one with the Cure spell!"

"I don't care! It's too late for him, we all still have to make it out alive!"

"But-"

"**LOOK at that**!" the eldest prinny growled.

Jobin was licking the Cheesy goodness, and blood, off of the tip of his flipper.

"OH GOD!" Phil was out the door in a second.

* * *

AN: Welcome to Naruto's Hour of Darkness. My first attempt at a crossover fic, and a NarutoxDisgaea one at that! Hopefully you will enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Know that eventually Naruto and his vassals will be fighting against the likes of Baal and won't always stay as weak as they are now. I won't be blending too much of the video game mechanics into the story, so don't expect to see Stats or Experience points or anything like that. As a note to anyone who may be concerned that Naruto and Co. will become overpowered, they wont. I've worked out a handy Demon Lvl to Shinobi Rank chart.

Academy Student/Normal Human: Lvl 1~10

Genin: Lvl 10~50

Chunin: Lvl 50~125

Jounin: Lvl 125~250

Anbu: Lvl 250~300

Kage/S-Rank Nin: Lvl 300+

So as it stands, Naruto has two servants of roughly Chunin Rank and the rest, including him and Sasuke are basically stuck at Genin for a while. Also, despite Leivateinn being a pretty high lvl sword in Disgaea, the importance of Stats is majorly downgraded in this story. Things work differently here than in Disgaea so even though Leivateinn would make things easy early in the game, Naruto will still just be a Genin with a fancy sword. Items like Demon emblems and other enchanted items may give other benefits, but a sword is just a sword.

One more thing, eventually Naruto's enemies from the Elemental Nations will be receiving an Upgrade as well. Don't want to get too specific, but you shouldnt worry that they'll only be fighting demons. The Enemies will be from both worlds.

I don't know whether to continue this or work on something else, so review if you like what you've read! Also I'm open to suggestions regarding future vassals as well as possible pairings! I don't do yaoi.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Disgaea

A/N: I just want to establish something.

Laharl was betrayed and sent into the coffin of doom roughly 2000 years after the events of Disgaea: Hour of Darkness. He matured quite a bit in that time, going from 1313 years old to 33XX years old.

Enjoy chapter 2

* * *

Chapter 2:

"The Item World is a dangerous place." Sasuke said between deep steadying breaths.

Indeed it was. 100 different levels of hell – inhabited by demons who would love nothing more than to rip one's guts out. They cannot be reasoned with, they exist only to destroy those that would enter their domain. Myriad beasts and warriors and mages that became more powerful and ferocious the further you descended. The dreaded Item Gods that awaited each unlucky soul at the bottom of each item were a thing of nightmare; fueled as they were by death and destruction.

Samhain slapped Sasuke upside his head. "You're just realizing this now?"

"Dood... Kind of late don't you think, pretty boy?" Keeseling laughed derisively.

Naruto ignored the impending argument and asked of Phil, "Give Sasuke a Heal please."

"You got it, dood! Do you have any egg nog though, I'm parched!"

"Yeah, yeah... Jobin give Phil the nog."

"HEAL!" Phil raised a purple flipper which briefly glowed green – the healing aura arched in the air before it settled above Sasuke. It grew in intensity before it burst and spiraled down towards the injured shinobi.

Sasuke sighed in relief as the gentle energy restored his stamina and his wounds began to seal by themselves. He leaned against the spear he had chosen as his own, the Falcon Lance. "Phil, I take back every bad thing I've said about you."

"Dood, everyone loves Phil when he's keeping you held together, HA!" Phil sang as he twirled around on one webbed foot.

"Shut up, Phil." Sasuke said.

"Shut yer mouth, Phil." Keeseling said, precisely as Sasuke did. The two shared a look of mutual loathing.

"Awww..."

Naruto cut in and said, "Sasuke, since you're the least experienced member, I'm going to leave this up to you."

Samhain snorted, "How the hell does that make sense?"

"We are on the 9th Floor of this item, on the next level there is an exit." Sasuke looked pleased at this and was about to answer. "BUT, there is also a very powerful demon there as well, known as the Item General. We will have to defeat him in order to get home. Or we could use this." Naruto held up a little pink gate, that had a small roof and two wooden doors that opened into who-knows-where. "This is a Mr Gency's Exit."

"Really? An Emergency Exit?" Sasuke asked, perplexed by the peculiar object.

"NO! A Mr Gency's Exit. What are you deaf?" Keeseling chimed in.

"Shut it, bird!" Naruto fired at the Prinny, who pouted, "I would rather that we defeat the Item General and save this bad boy for later, but I think that you should decide. It's your first time in the Item World and we've already been through a lot on this trip."

After a moment of silence, "Let's just get on with it."

And so the party descended to the 10th floor.

* * *

Andrealphus was a patient being. For so many years, ages and ages, he had been waiting. Waiting for as long as he could remember – always waiting for his day. Much blood had yet to be spilled. So many mortals left breathing and struggling against the tides of causality, always failing to their inevitable end. The grave awaited every single one of those things that would dare invade his realm, his world! The dark depths of his world, a bleak gray hilltop surrounded by graves, hung suspended in the midst of void and shadow. The very nature of his existence was that of pain, inflicting pain specifically.

Imagine this beast's delight when Naruto's wayward party warped their way onto his floor.

"GWAOOOOOOHHHHHH!" Andrealphus' bloodlust filled call warped the air between him and his chosen prey. At the sound, an ensemble of warriors stirred from an ancient rest. These demons lifted their weapons as one and began a slow approach, walking in step with one another, a line of death in the dark of the Item World.

"Sasuke, stay by my side." Naruto said confidently to his vassal before rattling off orders to the rest, "Samhain, take Jobin ahead and start picking the weaker ones off. Keeseling, protect Phil and stay on our rear."

"Aye aye, Dood!" The Prinny Team responded in unison. Samhain strode forward, leveling his favored weapons, his Geo-Sabers. Twin glowing beams of green energy lit up the Prinny's vicinity as he began to weave his way through a group of demons, all Zombies. The four zombies encircled the Prinny and began to assault him, but the weathered penguin held them off with little difficulty.

Jobin had meanwhile rushed way ahead onto the slope of the hillside where the Item General stood, in all his splendor. Andrealphus possessed the body of a Wolf, with large claws and equally large, scaly wings tucked behind his back. His body ceased to be organic at his mid-waist and instead his body stood on a round obsidian platform. The Gargoyle leveled his gaze at the Prinny who was cutting into his forces with two flippers that had morphed into clawed appendages, as his weapon, the Demon's Hand allowed.

Naruto and Sasuke were fighting their way forward, Sasuke using his spears length to keep a Warrior using an axe at bay. He twirled the rod-like weapon around and parried the axe to his side while stepping forward to thrust the wide tip of his Falcon Lance into the Warrior's body. He absorbed the blow handily and tried to press forward and split Sasuke in two. The Uchiha leapt backwards but was almost hit by a stray Wind spell that one of the Mages must have cast at him or Naruto. Naruto had already begun to thin out the numbers of enemy around them, but had encountered a Samurai who was giving him much trouble. The two clashed swords and while Naruto's attention was split, the other demons decided to rush Sasuke and overwhelm him.

Sasuke desperately dodged the various blows and spells that had been sent his way but to no avail he had received some grevious wounds. An arrow had punctured his chest and numerous lacerations of various depth covered his entire frame. He fell to one knee just as a Centurion raised his sword high over his head poised to end Sasuke's life.

The slash was sent off course courtesy one Phil getting in the way, his narrow blades forming an X to fend off the blow. "Grrr... Sasuke, move!"

He rolled out of the way just as Phil's weak guard broke, the Prinny narrowly avoided getting a face full of iron as the outraged Samurai shouted in displeasure. Keeseling wasn't far off and he intercepted the skilled warrior with his Twin Blades.

Sasuke wasn't given much time to rest and already he was engaged in combat with a brutish man using studded gauntlets to great effect. He was thrown off balance by a uppercut and got launched upwards. The man was just about to slam him into the ground but Naruto was there to cut off the midair attack. The blond demon followed his natural trajectory and he spun into a front flip and slashed the demon in two, vertically. "Sasuke, retreat for now!"

"I can't!" Sasuke responded with grit teeth as once again he was being attacked. This time by a zombie.

"Shit... Keeseling and Phil, watch Sasuke! I'm going to free up Samhain!" Naruto said and he jumped forward to engage in combat with the old prinny.

Naruto ducked under an axe swipe and used Leivateinn to rip the offending demon apart. He rolled closer to his comrade and questioned, "Where is Jobin?!"

"He went berserk and now he's off fighting the General! He screwed up this plan, big time!" Samhain answered and kicked a zombie backwards a few meters. Naruto turned to see Jobin in a flurry of motion, spinning and thrusting his clawed flippers wildly at the stout Gargoyle who was not budging an inch.

_Jobin always was a difficult one. Something must be done about him._

Naruto silently agreed with his mentor and reengaged in the combat. Between him and Samhain, the enemies at the base of the hill were all but eradicated. "I'll take care of these stragglers and then go help Jobin, find Sasuke and make sure he's alright!"

The General Prinny nodded and ran off to secure the Uchiha. A glance over showed him separated from Phil and Keeseling, off facing down a Ghoul.

"Shit." Naruto intoned mirthlessly and shouted, "BLADE RUSH!" He became a blur and dashed forward roughly 4 meters, his blade cleaved through two archers who had begun to take aim at him. One of the marksmen fell to a heap on the ground and the other tried desperately to line up another shot. Naruto was not feeling merciful and so he relieved the female archer of her head.

"Cannonball!" Andrealphus declared as an orange sphere of power gather between his raised hands, high above his head. Even Jobin was broken out of his berserker rage as the projectile rocketed down towards him. With a strangled, "Doood!" the psychotic Prinny was launched across the battlefield.

Naruto decided at that moment that he had to fight the General himself. If not it would traverse the distance that separated him and the rest of the party. Sasuke was barely hanging on as it was, and the Item General would be a death warrant to the young shinobi. Naruto hefted a sigh and extended his senses to focus on the powerful enemy before him. **Lvl 57**.

This tendril of energy was enough to alert the demon of his presence and the Gargoyle began to flap it's mighty wings and was soon on it's way to destroy Naruto. "GWAOOOOOHHH!"

"Hurricane SLAAASHH!" Naruto shouted the name of his technique, as heroes are want to do, and was immediately encircled by the winds. He rode the currents up towards his opponents level and his blade was met with the stone claws of Andrealphus.

"WEAK!" The General used his other clawed hand to skewer Naruto through his stomach. Naruto's eyes widened and he lifted his blade to absorb the blow. The Gargoyle gripped the blade, ignoring the fact that it's sharp edges wounded it's flesh. "DIE!" He spun around and using the blade threw Naruto to the ground where he fell onto a cross, marking an ancient grave. "CANNONBAAAALL!" Once more the orange sphere gathered over head and the Gargoyle fired it down towards the Overlord-wannabe.

_Get up!_

The destructive sphere came down with the force of thunder and Naruto had just barely managed to roll, quite painfully, away from the blast radius. Andrealphus was on him in a second, Naruto struggled to keep up with the heavy blows and Leivateinn was literally vibrating from the effort. Concussive blows rained down on him as the Gargoyle released a millennium of harbored rage and aggression onto his young frame. One powerful swipe of his claw managed to get through Naruto's guard and he was crushed by a powerful stone limb.

"Naruto!" Samhain shouted in concern, Sasuke following close behind.

The blond demon was staggered by the attack, but he managed to find himself in time to lean away from a powerful overhanded slash courtesy the Item General. Samhain nearly made it to the struggling ninja, but was assaulted by a Ghoul who had been forgotten. "Sasuke!" Samhain shouted as he grappled with the feral zombie.

"Right!" Sasuke nodded and went to go help his master, Falcon Lance at the ready. He had managed to come up behind the Gargoyle; Naruto had noticed the approach even in his hazy state and maneuvered an opening for him. "IMPALER!" Sasuke shouted as he leapt up high and came down with a powerful thrust onto Andrealphus' head.

The Gargoyle barely flinched, but he turned around long enough for Naruto to get a good slash in at him with Leivateinn. The greater Demon let out a might howl and rose to the air. "Sasuke, run!"

"CANNONBA-"

Jobin had jumped up to the demon's level and gripped the Gargoyle's wings with his wicked claws. The wings ripped away from his back like cloth and the wounded demon fell to the dirt howling and thrashing. The Prinny on it's back was thrown to the ground, but luckily did not explode.

"Sasuke, have you ever been thrown before?"

"What?"

Naruto picked Sasuke up by the scruff of his shirt and the hem of his pants and launched the Uchiha at the weakened Gargoyle, "SAAAASUKKKEEE BULLET!"

"FUCK!" Sasuke shouted and pointed his Falcon Lance straight at the Item General. Incredibly, a purple aura surrounded the speeding shinobi and he accelerated to a great speed.

"GWAAAAAAOOOOOOHHHHHH!" Sasuke burst straight through Andrealphus' stone chest.

"We just invented an attack!"

"I HATE YOU."

* * *

Monday 9AM

"Listen, it's not such a big deal."

"It completely is. You **threw** me." Sasuke said forcefully. "At a DEMON. Who nearly KILLED us all."

The blond sighed as they turned a corner and he saw that Ichiraku ramen was closed for the day. Ayame and Teuchi must have wanted a day off for some reason. "Looks like breakfast is ruined, do you just want to wait for Kakashi at the training ground?"

"I guess so although I am pretty h– Wait, I'm not dropping this, I'm definitely still pissed that you used me as a human projectile."

"Demons throw each other all the time, it's a cultural thing."

"That's bullshit!"

"It's a union thing?"

"Fuck off!" Sasuke stormed off in the direction of Training Ground 7.

By the time Naruto caught up they were nearly at the meeting spot. "Hey, you left yesterday when Phil healed you, so you didn't hear about all the good stuff we got out of that trip."

Sasuke was mildly interested but he refused to let it show, "I don't care. You find yourself a new vassal."

"Come on, dude!"

"What are you a Prinny?"

"HEY! That's over the line."

"Hmm... You're right."

"Good morning, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura Haruno said as she sprinted forward from her position underneath a tree. "What are you doing showing up so late with Naruto of all people?"

"I'm not really sure. He's been following me for a while now."

Naruto shot Sasuke the most evil glare he could muster before facing Sakura and muttering, "Erm, hello Sakura-san."

"Speak up, wierdo!" Sakura said, hands placed bossily on her hips, "If I'm going to have to be your teammate I'm going to break you of that habit!"

"I d-don't like to yell." Naruto nearly whispered, playing up his weak-willed persona as best he could. A. He didn't want to arouse any suspicion before being able to defend himself against possibly the Hokage himself. This would take a very long time. He was in for the long haul in Konoha. Far too convenient of a location to give up. Where better to learn the shinobi arts! Naruto assured himself that this convenience was the only reason he stuck around. Laharl had broken him of attachments to this place long ago. B. Keeping up his weird persona was quite fun, especially since it got on Sakura and Kakashi's nerves.

"JUST SPEAK LIKE A NORMAL PERSON! SHANNARO!" She said as she bonked Naruto on the head. If she would have learned from the last time, she would have realized this was a very bad idea. "Aggh! Darn it Naruto, is your head made of steel?"

"No, but it's just as dense." Sasuke snarked from the sidelines.

Sakura's eyes bugged out, Sasuke had made a JOKE! He was finally warming up to her! Naruto all but forgotten, she was instantly by Sasuke's side. "Sasuke, do you want to get dinner together after today's mission?"

"No."

And cue the slumping shoulders, cue the downward gaze. She rebounded quickly and began chattering to Sasuke about all sorts of inane matters.

_That girl, she can't gain acceptance from Sasuke as a ninja so she becomes ultra girly around him to compensate, thinking she'll gain acceptance in that regard._

"Since when do you take an interest in these matters?" Naruto was safe to answer Laharl fully, as Sakura was paying Sasuke her full attention. The boy's disinterest was evident from the look on his face and he denied each and every attempt at conversation.

_When I realized that all of the trained shinobi, trained killers, whatever you want to call it, are an exceptional pool of potential vassals! Sasuke acclimated to the demon water faster than any human I've ever seen! Gordon was on his ass for three days! Imagine if we could snare that Kakashi human! He is good, I can tell._

"Wait, wait, wait, you have taken an interest in Sakura?"

_She has excellent potential as a mage, all book smart and whatnot. I don't know if she could harness the necessary negative emotions for aggressive magic, but a cleric is always useful._

"No. I won't take Sakura as my vassal."

_Sigh... Listen, kid, you'll learn one day that people change. Even if she is insufferable right now, in a year or two she could very well be a useful person that you have a great deal of access to because you are her teammate. I say that you drop this act Naruto._

"That's not the plan!" Naruto whispered angrily, seemingly to himself. "Plus I've acted this way for the past 6 years. I think people would notice."

_Now is the time, Naruto, to establish relationships with those who could serve you later in life._

Naruto mulled the idea over for a long while. It seemed sort of a scummy thing to do and that unnerved him. Befriend people only as a means to use them? While in the Academy Naruto and Sasuke always got on well with each other. The other boys in class were often jealous of Sasuke's superior attitude and harbored resentment towards him. The blond jinchuriki had been just like them for the first year of the academy, but then his life changed when he met Laharl and the Prinny Squad. After learning of the Netherworld and it's gritty politics, the social order of an Academy class meant nothing. Their mutual detachment from the class made them form a totally unspoken bond. That bond being of course, 'You don't bother me, I don't bother you.'

To make a long story short, he had always approved of Sasuke as a potential choice as a vassal. Laharl had been watching, as always, and mentioned that Sasuke was just the perfect candidate. Very ambitious, nearly desperate for power, willing to do anything for revenge. Willing enough to consort with demons. Sasuke was ruthless and cunning, two traits that were admirable in any demon.

Sakura had none of these things. She was smart enough, but would she really be able to apply those smarts in the heat of a combat situation? Naruto tried to imagine Sakura standing beside him as they faced down Andrealphus. No matter how he tried, he could not picture it, unless the girl was crying.

"I can't do that. She wouldn't survive the first battle."

_Well, I'm not suggesting you go on a recruitment drive! But, who do you have to speak to in this village besides me? Teuchi and Ayame can only do so much for you._

Naruto could not respond.

_Exactly. I suggested that you take Sasuke in as your vassal, and yet what did I see? Over the course of a few days, the two of you began to become friends! The first honest friend that I've ever seen you have. I may have been keeping you isolated for too long._

"I'm not exactly a hermit... I talk to people. I speak to Ayame and Teuchi and they like me just fine!"

_Wearing that stupid mask that I made for you. When we first met, you were a loud, insufferable, buffoon. But now you're just insufferable._

"Hey!"

_Hahaha, that was funny, eh?_

"Ugh, get on with it."

_Lighten up. The point is that you need to find people to... Goddamn it, I sound like that Love-freak... You need to find people that are precious to you._

Naruto was utterly shocked, "What are you saying? What is up with you?"

Laharl released a hearty sigh, _I don't know. What Samhain said got me thinking. He said I was your..._

The blond boy gulped, this was literally impossible. Laharl simply did not do this kind of thing. 6 years of living with the Overlord and he had never once opened up like this.

_At any rate, I am the primary influence in your life... It's a complicated feeling. I am responsible in some way for how you turn out. What you do reflects onto me, I need to ensure that you mature into a healthy person. It's not good for anyone to hide themselves from the world and you should branch out in whatever way feels natural to you._

"O-Okay."

_Forget all that nonsense I said about keeping your distance from others. With more relationships and as more people gain access into your life it will be difficult to keep your more clandestine activities a secret, but that is a risk I feel you must take. Both to gain access to more vassals, but also to be a child and not just a demon. Ha, I was over thirteen-hundred years old before I began to seriously consider becoming the Overlord. 100 times your current age... So go be a kid._

Naruto nodded dumbly. This is not what he had expected at all.

_Look sharp, your teacher is here._

"Finally with us, Naruto?" Kakashi's voice surprised him and he almost jumped.

"Uh, yeah... I'm fine."

The Jounin eyed his student for a moment before putting away his very pornographic Icha-Icha Paradise. "Alright then, today we're doing a teamwork exercise!" Collective groans from the three genin, but Kakashi pushed forward unconcerned by his team's displeasure. "Trust fall time!"

* * *

Sarutobi Hiruzen sat behind his desk, thumbing through a few scouting reports from the border with Ta no Kuni (Rice Country). There was a creeping feeling of unrest in that region. More bandit attacks and fewer trade caravans willing to traverse the roads were beginning to affect Konoha's bottom line. Several members of the fledgling ninja village Otogakure had been sighted in the area. The wizened Hokage could not shake the feeling that the two phenomena were connected.

A lone survivor from a bandit raid on a border town recalled through tears that the bandits seemed well organized. A well known missing-nin and traitor to Takigakure was seen consorting with the bandit group and it seemed that he had been adopted into Otogakure as one of it's jounin. If Otogakure was connected to the rising attacks in the region then there was little he could do to put pressure on the village. It was largely self-sufficient in terms of food production, since it was assumed to be within Ta no Kuni, the largest rice producer on the continent. Negotiations with Iron Country had proven useless when it came to Oto, it seemed that the Otokage had more sway with the samurai nation, and the prices of iron and other metals remained the same in Ta no Kuni.

Even a direct military strike would prove useless, as the villages location had proven impossible to pin down. A report from Jiraiya had asserted that the village was most likely a string of bases and did not have a central location. The scattered nature of their forces would make it a perfect place from which to stage terrorist activities and generally put the squeeze on surrounding nations. Perhaps diplomacy could nip this problem in the bud?

He would be sure to invite Otogakure to the upcoming chunin exams.

"Hokage-sama?" A familiar voice spoke from his doorway.

Sarutobi lifted his eyes, only for them to land upon Hatake Kakashi. "Ah, Kakashi-kun! Come in, take a seat."

The jounin settled down on the chair before him, his expression grim.

"I suppose this is not a visit for pleasure?" He asked as he took in the look on Kakashi's face.

Kakashi shook his head and sighed. "I wish I could say it was. It's about Naruto."

"Say no more." A quick handseal and the soundproof seal was up around the office. The walls took on a slight purple glow. "Continue..."

"Well, you told me to inform you if his mental state seemed to be deteriorating beyond its current level of dysfunction."

"Yes. Has this happened?"

The son of the White Fang spoke carefully to the Shinobi Professor. "It's hard to say. Today I observed him carry on a full conversation with someone inside his head just before our team meeting began... I fear that he is being influenced by the Kyuubi."

Sarutobi nodded slowly and thought for a moment. "Did you manage to overhear any of it?"

"That is what is so worrying." He answered, genuinely concerned for his student's well-being, "Before I observed this behavior, Sakura had admonished Naruto for his less than normal manner of speech. You know how he mumbles all the time?"

"For nearly six years now."

"Well, Sakura had bashed him atop the head and generally tried to stop this behavior. She and Sasuke began to talk and Naruto sat alone, mumbling. I've observed this behavior many times before, but never such a prolonged conversation. I was able to pick up on a great deal of it... Apparently, the Kyuubi has taken an interest in Sakura. Naruto was trying to refuse to... How did he phrase it? Take her as his vassal."

The Hokage's eyes widened and he reached for his pipe and tobacco. "Go on."

"I believe that Naruto harbors negative feelings for Sakura and the Fox is trying to use it to corrupt him. Naruto did argue a bit but, in the end, it seems that Naruto accepted whatever the the Kyuubi had in mind. He seemed uncertain of it, but said, 'Ok.'"

"Kakashi, you are to keep a closer eye on your students. I am going to recall Jiraiya to Konoha to inspect the seal for weaknesses..." He lit the pipe and took a deep drag, "If you observe any other changes in his behavior or similar occurrences, further action may be necessary."

The jounin nodded and stood to leave. His steps loud in the dead-quiet of the office, he paused just before the door. "Minato-sensei would kill us where we stand. You, me, and Jiraiya."

"Yes. I suspect that he would be quite displeased that his son is so misguided. Perhaps if Jiraiya had stayed in the village, or if you had not been pressured by the council to stay away from Naruto – things could have turned out differently."

"Perhaps you should have kept his identity as Jinchuriki a secret. Or let his heritage be known."

Sarutobi agreed and replied, "This does not change our current situation. Naruto must be kept in line. No matter who his parents are, he must not be allowed to run wild. Keep this in mind."

"I know, Hokage-sama. I know."

* * *

AN: Alrighty then, Chapter 2 comes to a close.

To respond to an anonymous reviewer, yes, other Disgaea characters will be making an appearance in this story. In what capacity they will appear is to be determined. If anyone has suggestions, feel free to leave a review. I'm not positive on most of the story, so for the forseeable future I will be seriously considering the suggestions you guys make. I have a few characters that I know I will make into vassals, but I am willing to add more. Pairings if any are still up for debate.

Hope you enjoyed!


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

* * *

Naruto meandered down the street. A hefty bundle wrapped in cloth hung over his shoulder as his steps carried him steadily forward. It was very early in the morning and few people were out preparing for the day ahead. At any rate they were busy and would not pay him much attention. Not that they ever did.

He took a glance upwards at the morning sky. The sun shining bright just over the horizon stained the whole canvas of the heavens a deep startling red. How different it was from the Netherworld, where even in the light of day the sky never became any brighter than a dusky grayish blue.

A few more moments of walking and he came to a pause outside of the _Twin Peaks _Pawn Shop. Was Gorou in yet? He opened the door and poked his head inside.

He felt movement behind him and spun around while slamming the door in one motion. As he moved he pulled a kunai from his pouch and held it to his assailant's throat.

"WOAH! Watch it, ninja boy! What da heck?!" Gorou, with his big gut and bad teeth shouted at him and pulled his hand away, spit flying from his mouth with each syllable.

Naruto sighed and slipped his weapon away. "Sorry sorry, just tense."

"That's why I hate doin' business with you ninja folk. Always so damn jumpy. Normally I get that from Jounin, but you?! You gotta be a Genin, and already you're acting like a damn fool!"

"Hey, it's nice to see you too."

Gorou scoffed and said, "Outta my way," as he pulled a trash can behind him back into his business. "Yeah, I was just takin' out the trash, when I saw my good friend Naruto walking into my establishment! I decided that I would greet him! But no, he just wants to effin' kill me."

Naruto smirked and followed the man into the shop.

The greasy guy put the trash in its place and turned to the blond. "So I take it you got something for me."

"As always," Naruto said, already at the counter. He unwrapped the cloth bundle and revealed a few swords.

Gorou examined each blade with a careful and tested eye and nodded his approval. "Not bad... not bad at all." He pulled the three swords from their scabbards at let them rest on his glass counter top, underneath the counter was all sort of valuable goods. Necklaces, rings, blades, jewels and other assorted bits of wealth just waiting for a buyer. "How much were you thinking for the three?" He asked slyly and he leaned forward against the glass – his stomach actually rested on the surface.

"Eh, you make an offer."

"Of course." He took a moment. "Well, dis one is quite exotic. It'll end up on some rich woman's mantle for sure... 1500 for it seems fair. These two are more practical, but I swear you bring me da weirdest shit." Gorou lifted the blade, which was more of a dagger, that curled in and then outward like a wave. "Who's gonna buy dis thing?"

"Some discerning customer with a keen eye for quality. Plus that sort of dagger is a Kris"

Gorou barked out a short laugh, "Good, whatever. Alright how about 500 a piece for these two plain ones. And only cuz I like ya."

"I'll take it." Naruto reached over the counter and shook Gorou's hand. Once the money was counted out Naruto said his goodbyes and turned to leave.

"Hey, kid. You're always coming in here selling stuff, you gotta have a whole lotta money by now, whatchu gonna do with it?" Gorou asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

The genin retorted with, "When are you gonna make enough money to retire and head back home to the Capitol?"

Gorou cursed at him but continued, "No, I'm serious. What's a young kid like you need with so much cash?"

Naruto looked pensive for a moment. "Well, today I need this money for a good reason."

"Which is?"

"I need to buy myself something good to wear... I'm going to a funeral."

* * *

It was in a somber mood that Naruto walked into his training field the next day, dragging his feet as he went. Sakura greeted him with a nod of her head and continued to badger Sasuke – who looked miserable. The Uchiha walked off away from Sakura, leaving her in midsentence.

"Hey, I heard about what happened."

Naruto nodded and gulped down the knot in his throat. "Yeah."

"Just wanted to say, I'm sorry for your loss. I know you were like family with them."

The blond boy took a long look at his friend and said sincerely, "Thank you." Sasuke nodded as he looked away, apparently disgusted with himself.

"But, Sasuke." Naruto said, his teeth grit, eyes wide, knuckles white as his hands balled into fists. His eyes mixed with red and blue and could not choose a color to remain. Thin wisps of malevolent red and blue energy rose around him. "We need to have a discussion later about our response."

"Response? Somebody killed th-"

Naruto hushed his teammate before he could continue any further. "Later."

They settled into a silence that was only interrupted by more of Sakura's attempts at talking to her teammates. Naruto had tried to be more genuine in his conversations with her recently, but today was just not one of those days. Not while the owners of Ichiraku Ramen lay dead in their best clothing, skin pale and eyes forever shut.

_It's too early for you to strike at that target. Don't forget that he can crush us at any moment. That's what this was, a warning, and if need be, a threat._

The blond genin did not give a reply.

Damn what Laharl said, Ayame and Teuchi's deaths would be vindicated. Even if the heavens themselves conspired to stop him. Even if every force in the world was against him, he would not relent before his hands were red with blood.

* * *

Birds scattered into the air, breaking through the dense green foliage of the treeline into clear blue sky. They had been startled by an enormous impact that had leveled several trees which thundered to the ground, sending up dust and a wide spray of leaves. At the center of this impact, two figures were waging a titanic battle.

One had a shock of white hair that fell behind his head in a spiky mass. He was a large man, easily 6 feet tall and with a well built frame. He wore a red vest over a dull green gi and fishnet armor and on his forehead was a forehead protector with two small prongs jutting up on each side, the Kanji for 'Oil' was inscribed on the metallic surface.

The other was a quite strikingly good looking woman, with a curvy figure and nice long legs. Ordinarily this man would never fight such a babe, but certain times called for certain measures. She had red hair, worn in two quite spiky pigtails at either side of her head. Her outfit was quite revealing, despite the cloak that was draped over her shoulders. A mere black tube top covered her chest. The perverted man found it difficult to concentrate during this battle to say the least... She also wore a simple pair of black leather pants with purple boots. In her black gloved hands was a wicked looking trident with hooked prongs, a black handle which led upwards to sterling white steel.

"Listen lady," The man began, even as he knocked a severe thrust of the deadly weapon away. "We could do this all day, but you will have to answer for your crimes. Ridiculously hot chick or no."

Her reply was to laugh and she began to spin her trident idly in her hands as she stopped her attack for a moment. "And what crimes are those?"

"I found you standing over the bodies of 4 Konoha chuunin. Despite my appearance, I am a loyal shinobi of the Leaf Village. Perhaps you've heard of Jiraiya of the Sannin?"

"Who of the who?" The woman asked, amused as all hell.

Jiraiya sighed and held up a hand, "That's not really important."

She cackled in a slightly mad way and said,"As much fun as this battle has been, I didn't kill your shinobi or whatever you want to call them." Then she murmured to herself, "What a weird place this has become, a land of only ninja."

Jiraiya fixed her with a hard stare, but she did not allow her gaze into his eyes to falter. The two had a tense moment where their eyes remained locked. Jiraiya contemplating his further options and whether Sage Mode was necessary and the Mysterious Woman just spinning her trident without a care in the world. He relented after a few moments. "Explain."

"I'm not sure why I should, but sure. You see, I'm not from around here. Outer Space actually." She pointed upwards. " And I came here looking for a friend of mine, have you seen him?"

The Sannin sighed, why were the hot ones always crazy? He might as well play along though... "I don't know what does he look like?"

"Oh, he looks like a piece of jewelry. A gold necklace with a red jewel in the center. Probably about this big?" She held her fingers apart about 3 inches, a grin on her face.

"Wow... I... Just, wow." Jiraiya stammered out, he was lost for words.

The Mysterious Woman cackled once more and gave him with a sly smile, "So I guess you haven't seen him. Anyway, you should watch out. If you see my friend tell him to watch out. Hell, everyone on this dumb planet needs to watch out."

"What does that mean?"

"Oh, nothing. Just know that your village, your world, your whole way of life is at risk." She said as she bit her lip innocently, "All because of my friend."

"I see." Jiraiya answered as he watched this woman with his attention now fully and utterly piqued. She was quite powerful and he got the sense that she may as well have been jogging from how much effort she had put into their battle. Who was she allied with, what were her goals? Should he even take this threat seriously?

"And if you're looking for the culprit behind your friend's deaths..." She extended a single finger to point behind Jiraiya. The Sannin turned his head only to see an oncoming red shape that was crunching through the underbrush. A wide powerful jaw filled with razor sharp teeth and two pointed horns sat atop a crimson scaled creature with a large set of scaly wings folded behind it. It's body was well muscled and seemed to be made purely for combat.

"Is that - is that a dragon?" Jiraiya asked and he turned to look over at the Mysterious Woman, but she had already vanished.

The dragon let out an unearthly cry and propelled itself at the shinobi with a beat of it's wings. Jiraiya managed to get out of the way, but was rewarded with a wound across his chest in the shape of a dragon's claws. He cringed at the pain but forced himself to focus. This was no time to get frazzled. This DRAGON was like any other opponent he had faced. It would die by his hand, and then he would go to a brothel ASAP.

It roared again and resumed its assault.

Jiraiya sighed, "... fuck."

* * *

Sakura watched in utter silence as her teammates sparred while they waited for Kakashi. It was unlike anything she had seen from the two before. When did they become so fast? Was Naruto always so strong? The blond had caught Sasuke with a powerful left straight and he flew backwards a good few meters! Sasuke had taken the powerful blow quite well and was back on the offensive soon after. Naruto hung back and waited for the Uchiha to come; it seemed that Naruto was almost toying with Sasuke. She hated to admit it, but Naruto seemed to be wiping the floor with her dear crush!

Naruto deftly swept aside a couple of blows and countered with a single kick to his opponent's knee, which buckled. He then jumped forward and attempted to flip Sasuke onto his back. Sasuke stayed upright and lashed out at Naruto with a few short blows that luckily made an impact. The jinchuriki was not staggered by the hits he had received and so he knocked a few punches right into Sasuke's body.

He nearly puked from the strong hits to his gut, but recovered fast and beat a hasty retreat. Sasukes flew through a dozen handsigns, "Katon: Karyuu Endan!" The wide spread of flame which left his throat was massive, easily large enough to both kill Naruto and set the entire forest behind him aflame.

The blond demon could not have that, and so he raised a single fist. "MEGA WIND!" A strong wind descended upon the oncoming fire and twisted it all up into a large cyclone of flames that burned deep into the ground.

Sasuke was shocked. Since when the hell could Naruto pull a wind spell?!

Naruto snickered as he leapt through the maelstrom of swirling flames and air, the look on Sasuke's face was just priceless as he burst through the inferno. "Gotcha, bitch!" Leivateinn in his hand and pushed against Sasuke's throat. "Do you give up?"

"Y-yes."

Naruto touched two of his fingers together and the magnificent sword was gone in a small puff of smoke. "Good match," He said and shook Sasuke's hand.

"How'd you pull that with the sword?"

"Eh, sealing. I told you I was into it."

"Didn't think you could actually make something useful."

"Yeah, neither did I."

Once they walked back around the still spinning wall of flames, they were greeted by a very odd sight. Sakura seemed to be nearly comatose. Her mouth was agape and her eyes were glazed over almost like she wasn't home mentally.

* * *

-MID-CHAPTER OMAKE START!-

It seemed as though they broke their teammate.

"It seems as though we've broken our teammate."

This was not good at all.

"This is not good at all."

"Oh, well." Naruto smirked and pulled out a magic marker. He set to work on Sakura's face.

Sakura seemed to snap back into focus sometime around when Naruto had begun to finish shading in the unibrow he had decided to give her. "WHAT THE?!"

"Oh shi-"

And so Sakura cocked her hand back and with rage filling every muscle and fiber that twitched and strained as every joint in her body joined in an unholy chorus meant to hurt and destroy she flung her fist towards Naruto's regretful face. His life flashed before his eyes and he wondered whether or not he would feel the pain before being welcomed into heaven... Wait, he'd become a prinny! He wasn't a damn saint!

_DOOOODGGGEEE! _Laharl cried out for the son that he never had, voice thick and nearly in tears. There was no way he would ever survive such an angry blow from such an angry female.

"NARUTO!" Sasuke shouted in vain and reached a hand out for his soon to be fallen comrade. If only he could have done something! Who would help him drag Itachi through the streets of Konoha tied to the back of a horse? Damn the house of Haruno and all those that dwell within it's vile walls! Only one with the audacity to have pink hair would have the audacity to kill a future Overlord before his time.

Goodnight everybody! Naruto thought wistfully, all the things he would never do! So many asses left unkicked!

Sakura's fist burrowed its way into Naruto's face and the sound which was created reverberated through every tree in the area and shook many a leaf, many a branch. The dull, meaty thud was followed by a sob as Sasuke now knew for sure that his boss was dead! Naruto's poor brain rattled around inside of his head and he wobbled and swooned as Sakura began to shout and rage over how pissed off she was. She pulled out a pocket mirror and examined the grievous damage Naruto had done with the marker – lets just say that the Unibrow was just the tip of the iceberg. "YOU BASTARD!" She proceeded to stomp Naruto to death.

BAD ENDING UNLOCKED – SAKURA END!

Roll credits over the sounds of a brutal beating and the last Uchiha sobbing weakly.

-MID-CHAPTER OMAKE END!-

* * *

Sakura seemed to snap out of her daze and instantly she was right in front of the two of them, "What was all of that? Naruto you can use Futon Jutsu?"

"Uhhh... Yeah." Naruto responded a bit dumbly, "But that wasn't really a jutsu, just a lot of wind chakra."

"That was amazing you two! Since when can you fight like that, Naruto? Its the first time you even stood a chance against Sasuke-kun!"

Sasuke grimaced at the foolish statement, she was so infatuated by him that she was blind to the truth. Naruto held himself back during every spar they ever had before this one. Naruto suppressed his abilities down to just above her own level. And that was why he would never take Sakura seriously. At least until she became something more than an idiot fangirl.

"Yeah, Sakura. We've been training together and I think we have both really improved." Naruto said neutrally.

Sakura seemed to approve of Naruto's more normal behavior and pressed forward, "You guys have been leaving me out of training? That sucks."

"Well, it is pretty intense training, kinda dangerous. But, if you want, you can join us sometimes" He knew that Sasuke was probably looking at him with murder in his eyes, but he didn't care. This was just one more thing to talk to Sasuke and the Prinnys about later tonight.

"That sounds good Naruto!" For once, she offered him a genuine smile. It was strange. Naruto couldn't help but smile back at her as he lifted his hand up to rub the back of his head.

"Ugh." Was the noise Sasuke made at this display. Sakura soon rounded on her crush questioning him about their training. Naruto laughed openly at the situation and mostly the look on Sasuke's face. It was a very familiar scene but it was somehow different. Mainly because Sakura would also sometimes try to speak to him, and not just to drop an insult. Perhaps Laharl had a point about being honest?

Kakashi chose that moment to make himself known. He eyed his students with a bit of wonder. He was just as mystified by the intense sparring that he had seen during his daily hour of observing his team while he was "late"– per the Hokage's orders of course. It was a pretty high risk team – the jinchuriki of Konoha and the revenge-bent last scion of the Uchiha clan. Sakura's personality was thought to have been perfect to break the two introverted boys out of their respective shells. It seemed that the two boys had bonded and were training behind Kakashi's back. Not that the Jounin minded. It was a lesson that he didn't think his team had learned yet, but it seemed that his worries were unfounded.

However, it also seemed that Naruto was reaching out to Sakura specifically. Perhaps a worrying situation, considering what he had overheard earlier in the week. Also the advanced wind manipulation that he had used to block Sasuke's jutsu was unlike anything he had ever seen. Could it be a talent granted by the Kyuubi?

"That was a very impressive duel, kids."

Naruto turned to face his sensei, "You should train us more often, maybe you'd know what we were capable of."

Kakashi acted nonplussed, "Well, you know, we do train almost every day."

"If you can call trust-falls and teamwork building exercises training." Sasuke spoke up his voice tinged with bitterness.

"Yeah, sensei! Now that I think about it, our training is pretty sucky!" Sakura said, catching on to what was going on at the moment.

Kakashi was outright pleased. FINALLY! His team was uniting as a TEAM! "Now I can see that you guys may have a point... If you all think it best that we step up our training who am I to argue?"

Naruto grinned at his teacher. Ok, Laharl was officially right about being himself around others. He was a charming bastard on the inside and that meant that things would tend to fall into place.

_Cocky brat..._

* * *

Sasuke and the Prinnys sat before him on two rows of cruddy folding chairs, a range of emotions on each of the faces. Sasuke seemed attentive and focused as he waited for the meeting to begin at his place front and center. Such a dutiful servant. Keeseling was in a very similar position, but he seemed to be a little pissed off that he was stuck next to Jobin in the back row directly behind Sasuke. The decision was intentional, since Keeseling was a dick. Jobin was teetering back and forth in his chair humming a dumb little tune to himself, oblivious as always. Phil seemed a little nervous, but then again Phil was always slightly nervous. Samhain seemed bored, but watched Naruto carefully regardless.

"I called everyone here for 3 reasons," Naruto said in his best authoritative voice, "One: Sasuke and I are going to be focusing more on the Shinobi aspect of our training for a while."

"What, why?" Sasuke asked bewildered by the decision. They had only just begun to train in the Netherworld and already he had begun to improve by leaps and bounds. He felt stronger than ever and his level said so too, at a solid _26_. Naruto had even managed to hit _40. _"Fighting demons and learning to fight directly is much better than pushups and sparring!"

Samhain decided to fill Sasuke in on inormation. "That is true, at least for us demons. Each time we kill another living being we gain a small amount of their power. The fraction that we receive is extremely minimal, so as to hardly be noticed, but over time these fractions of power add up." Sasuke seemed interested in this line of conversation but Naruto made sure to get back on topic.

"It may be faster, but its also dangerous. Not just because it involves real combat. Yesterday, as Sasuke knows, two people very close to me were murdered. The authorities say it was a simple burglary but that is utter bullshit. I found this stabbed into my door last night with a kunai." He held up a simple white piece of parchment with an elegant black letter 'M'.

Samhain inhaled a sharp breath at the calling card. "Oh shit."

"Oh shit indeed." Naruto agreed. "Our operations in the Netherworld have been noticed and somehow my identity in the Human World has been compromised. The death of Teuchi and Ayame was a simple warning that I should watch where I tread."

"Why did this happen?" Sasuke asked, "Who is trying to warn you?"

"I'm gonna be sick!" Phil ran off to the newly installed bathroom.

"The worst person possible..." Keeseling muttered to himself.

"This is the calling card of the current Overlord and the usurper who betrayed Laharl and stripped him of his powers."

"Who is that?"

Naruto grit his teeth as he answered, "Majin-Ba'al."

* * *

A/N: Leave a review if you liked it and want more sooner rather than later.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

* * *

Kakashi looked on as his team attempted the tree-climbing exercise. It was a rather basic chakra control technique that genin were often taught early on in their training from a Jounin-sensei. He would have gone over the exercise sooner but the Hokage and his Advisors had their demands after all. Sasuke and Naruto were to be watched carefully and not to be trusted with intense training until they seemed to have stabilized in terms of personality.

It was good to see that they were making progress in more way than one.

"Naruto! Get back to your own tree!" Sakura shouted as she threatened Naruto with a fist from her lofty position sitting on a tree branch.

Naruto scoffed and continued his attempts at running up the tree. "There's something wrong with my tree! This is the easy one!" He took about 6 steps up the tree before it exploded into splinters beneath his feet. The blond shinobi was actually thrown away from the force of the backlash and fell to the ground hard.

Kakashi had to laugh at that one. "Naruto, all the trees are the same. This onr won't be any easier than the others in the forest."

"Then how did Sakura get it so easily?" Naruto asked, clearly skeptical.

"It's because she has less chakra than you, idiot. We all know that you have more energy than both of us combined." Sasuke added flatly from his spot in front of his tree. He seemed to be approaching the situation in a more analytical fashion than Naruto, Kakashi noticed. He was making steady progress.

"Guess you're right..." Naruto finally admitted before taking a look at the spot he had damaged. "So, I'm using too much chakra, Kakashi-sensei?"

"Yes." Kakashi began, as he strolled over to examine the splintered wood of the tree. "I've never actually seen someone screw this exercise up so badly." Naruto scowled at the dig but remained silent. "I recommend you slow down and approach this a bit more like Sasuke. Feel out the correct amount of chakra you need BEFORE you start charging up the tree. At this point you're more likely to make it up the tree without chakra, you're using so much that it's actually propelling you away from the tree."

Naruto nodded at the suggestion and sighed as he went back to his own tree. Things like this were never really his thing – just like Fuinjutsu. Seals were such a pain to work with and if Naruto had his way he would never look at another sealing array, but Laharl remained firm in his assessment that Fuinjutsu would eventually become a powerful tool. Speaking of which, "Sensei?"

"Yeah?" The jounin answered lazily from behind his copy of Icha-Icha Paradise.

"Do you know where I could learn something about seals? I'm interested in them and have already got a few to work on my own."

Kakashi's interest was captured and it was visible on his face as his eyebrow quirked and his eye widened the slightest bit. Could this be the Kyuubi's work? "Why the sudden interest in Fuinjutsu of all things?"

Naruto thought for a moment. How could he play this?

_I believe that Kakashi may be connecting dots that are not there. He knows of the Kyuubi and thinks that you may be tinkering with the seal. Tell him that you think it's fascinating, in the most juvenile way possible please._

The blond jinchuriki inwardly cursed at Laharl. First he tells him to act like himself, now he tells him to act like an idiot again. "Well, I think its awesome! You can do anything with a seal if you're good enough, I'd imagine. It's not exactly a new interest either, Kakashi-sensei." Naruto let that statement hang for a moment. He was really trying to drive it home to Kakashi that he was not exactly the most attentive teacher so that he might step up their training even further. "I've just never been able to do anything practical until recently."

"Practical like what?"

Naruto nearly pulled out Leivateinn, but stopped himself. How the hell could he possible explain a sword like Leivateinn? Would not end well... He looked down at the fingers on his right hand and debated over which one to use. On the tip of his middle finger was a small storage seal that when pressed against his thumb would release the mighty sword with a bit of smoke – just like he pulled against Sasuke. His ring finger contained explosive notes, now that he could finally make them – so much trial and error.

He pressed his thumb to his pointer finger and settled on a kunai. It appeared in his hand and Kakashi's eye widened again as the smoke cleared. "That's really something Naruto."

"Thanks. Anyway do you know anything about sealing?"

Kakashi's hand came up to the back of his head and he could not look Naruto in the eye as he answered, "Well, a little, I just need to prepare first." _'Well, I do, but I need to ask the Hokage first'_

Naruto's view lowered and he turned back to his tree. He could see through Kakashi's act. It was as though the Jounin didn't trust him and frankly it hurt a bit. Tentatively he had begun to put more faith into the people around him – and was it all for not?

* * *

"Just like Minato-sensei." Kakashi mumbled as his eye traced the names of the Memorial Stone for the millionth time. Even without his Sharingan he had long since memorized each and every name on the list and could picture the worn out carvings of each letter as he closed his eyes. "Obito, he's just like Minato sensei... Haha, at least in looks. But, I swear, when I saw him use that seal today, the look in his eyes – like he was the cleverest guy in Konoha – it just killed me."

He crouched a bit to find Rin's name farther down on the list. "Rin. You told me that I had to care more once Obito was gone. Would you smile at me now? Knowing that I've abandoned Sensei's son? Shit. Kushina would rip me apart and you'd help, I'm sure. Now that I can finally speak to him... I can't even help."

Hatake Sakumo, his father's name was much farther up the list. Kakashi could read it well without crouching or even bending. "Hmmm. Dad. What would you say?"

His father died because he chose comrades over the mission. Essentially he died because he put the lives of his team before the needs of Konoha. The shame and guilt that came from his superiors and even contemporaries drove the man to take his own life. And yet why did he feel that even now his father was a better man than he? He was willing to do anything for Konoha and he was so wracked with guilt over the fact that he could not choose both his team and his village as priority number one. This was something Kakashi had thought and suffered over endlessly.

The Advisors to the Hokage had managed to sway opinion enough that Naruto was to be treated as fragile, as glass. Didn't they realize their folly? By depriving the boy of his right to humanity – of his right to be a normal child with support – that they were driving him ever closer to the DEMON in his gut?! Kakashi would have gladly helped the boy along in life if not for the ban on interfering with him.

Would Hatake Sakumo have made the same choice?

_Namikaze Minato. _A name that was engraved lower than the others by far. A man he owed a great debt to. Right next to his name – _Kushina Uzumaki._

Dammit.

It would be a while before he managed to make a report to the Hokage.

* * *

Sasuke didn't bother to knock on Naruto's door and merely tugged it open. He twitched visibly.

Chaos.

"Dood! Get off my flipper!"

"You get off my flipper!"

"Shut up! Get off each other's flippers already!"

"NARUTO WHAT THE HELL?"

Naruto turned from overseeing the Prinnys as they marched in and out of his closet – dragging boxes and boxes of weapons along with them. "Oh, hey man! Grab a box! Help out."

Keeseling let out an OOF as he dropped as box full of staffs and staves on Naruto's coffee table. "Yeah, grab a box pretty boy! If you can lift one." He waddled away.

"I hate that fucking bird." Sasuke mumbled menacingly.

"I know right?" Naruto added.

Sasuke turned back to his boss. "Seriously, whats going on."

"Well, we went over it at the staff meeting the other night."

"You didn't exactly mention this." He swept a hand out to the terrible scene in the apartment. There were boxes stacked everywhere and more just kept coming out of the closet in a steady chain.

"I said we were shifting the orientation of our operations."

"I knew that but I didn't expect all the boxes and shit! And seeing the Prinnys in our world is weird as shit."

"Yeah..." Naruto fixed Sasuke with a hard stare, "Have you considered the second proposition yet?"

Without a moment's thought, Sasuke replied, "NO."

"Ahhh, come on!"

"I will not lure faceless fangirls into our 'Dark Army' as you so eloquently put it."

"Hmmm... Shame." Naruto sighed and folded his arms, "The Ichiraku's have certainly swayed my priority's." Sasuke nodded solemnly. "Baal is now target number motherfucking one. Actually he already was, but now he's been bumped up the list."

Sasuke looked over to his friend and sighed. What a Revenge Noob. "You don't rush into a revenge, my friend. You wait until you're ready and then you strike."

"I don't possess your patience. We will go at Majin-Baal. And **soon."**

The Uchiha thwacked him on the back of the head. "No. We don't." He glared with the same intensity that Naruto was now shooting at him. "We wait and wait until we are ready. If I understand correctly, then he is WAY out of our league – correct?"

"A bit." Naruto admitted bitterly.

Sasuke scoffed. "A bit my ass. If we go against him – we die, simple as that. The Ichiraku's are not avenged, the Netherworld isn't saved from a cruel Tyrant and we end up dead. Or worse, we end up like _them._" he gestured to the Penguin-looking demons who were all awkwardly trying to carry the heavy boxes with their stupid flippers.

"Ok. I see your point." Naruto finally said. "It's just... I want to hunt Majin-Baal down so damn bad... And just tear him apart! I've never hated like this before. What he did to Laharl was bad enough – but to take it out on Ayame and Teuchi of all people?!" Tears had gathered in the corners of Naruto's eyes as his voice took on volume. "They are blameless! Their only mistake was being associated with me! They were the only ones... who ever..." He trailed off and tried to mask the quake in his voice as anger and he slammed his fist into his other hand. "DAMMIT!"

"I know what you're going through, Naruto." Sasuke spoke sincerely and he looked down at his feet. "I know better than anyone, that fire that you feel. The burning hatred in your gut." He scowled deeply. "It makes me sick sometimes. But, you can't let it get the best of you. You need to ride it. Don't let it take over your good judgment. USE it in every way you can. Make it your reason to improve – your reason to exceed yourself." Sasuke was speaking passionately now, from the heart. "There is no weakness. There is no pain. There is only you and your anger and your need to kill. Use it and let it drive you – but not overtake you. And certainly, when the time comes, you ensure that everything falls into place perfectly. You take no chances as you stand over his bleeding form and stare him in the eye as you **cut **him **apart.**"

Naruto's blue eyes were wide as he listened to his friends speech on revenge. It seemed to be good advise, if a bit morbid. "I see your point. If I waste my life in a meaningless suicide attempt and charge after him, who the hell is gonna avenge the Ichiraku's? Who will avenge Laharl and the rest of the Netherworld who are living in fear?" He nodded to himself. "You're right, Sasuke. This is not a battle I can afford to lose."

Sasuke nodded and asked with grim amusement, "Who's gonna collect a head first? You or me?"

* * *

"A C-Ranked mission?"

"Yeah, I think its time isn't it? We've been a team for 4 months now and the D-Ranks are just ridiculous." Naruto said to Kakashi with certainty in his voice. "I've already talked to Sasuke and Sakura about it and they agree."

"That's right."

"We want a C-Rank!" Sakura added enthusiastically – all it took to convince her earlier was Sasuke asking with a slight smile on his face. Naruto almost felt bad about asking Sasuke to do it but it was about damn time that they receive a better mission!

Kakashi nodded and mulled the idea over. His team had been showing a lot of progress and the boys did seem to be stable enough. "I guess so. Let's go get a mission."

They walked quickly through the streets to reach the Hokage's Tower which was abuzz with activity. The seasoned Jounin figured it was a result of the upcoming Chuunin Exams. Everyone in the building seemed to be working furiously away at something. The Hokage seemed distracted even as they approached to receive their mission.

"Here for another D-Rank?" He asked once he finally managed to notice them

"Actually, today we're going to be taking a C-Ranked mission." Kakashi said.

Sarutobi's eyebrow arched, "Really? Are they ready?"

"I believe so. They managed to convince me."

He deliberated over the situation for a moment and then reached into a drawer containing C-Rank mission scrolls. Something safe – preferably they wouldn't even have to leave Hi no Kuni. Ah, the mission to Wave! Travel to the small country that was just off the coast of Hi no Kuni would put the team in little danger. Perhaps a few bandits, but Kakashi would be more than skilled enough to fend them off.

"Send Tazuna in..."

The old drunkard strolled in just as he handed Kakashi the scroll. "Oi, this is my shinobi escort? What are a buncha kids gonna do to protect me? They look super lame."

"I assure you they are fully trained Genin of Konoha." Sarutobi tried to console the client.

Kakashi added, "And I am a Jounin. I should be able to handle almost any situation we are likely to come across on a simple escort mission like this."

Tazuna nodded but still felt uneasy. He looked over the Genin who would be fighting for his life. Kids playing ninja – or trained killers... Either way he looked at it, the idea of children fighting and dying made him sick. This was all for his country and for his family, he reminded himself.

"These kids should go home and drink their milk. They don't need to come with us." Tazuna said dismissively and fixed the kids with a stare.

Sakura seemed agitated but did not speak up. Sasuke couldn't care less about the clearly buzzed old man. Naruto however was a little ticked off. "Sensei, can I show this guy just how deadly we are?" He asked as he made a kunai appear in his hand. Tazuna was unsettled by the display and tried to regain control of things.

"A runt like you couldn't even use that blade."

"Naruto is a decent ninja!" Sakura came to her teammate's defense. He wasn't sure whether he should be flattered by her dim praise or peeved that she thought of him in that light. "And Sasuke was the Rookie of the Year in our Academy class."

"My students are prepared to accept this mission. Now if you would please go and wait for my team by the gate, they will need an hour to prepare." Tazuna mumbled his agreement and left the tower. "You guys can go and get ready for the mission, pack supplies for up to a week, just to be safe. I'll meet you and Tazuna at the gate in an hour."

"Kakashi, a word?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

* * *

The travel was slow, much to Naruto's chagrin. Tazuna's pace was sluggish and nobody else seemed to mind. Even now the old man stumbled slightly as he walked, a pause in his gait, then a swig from a hip flask. Back to the slow and not so steady walking. Why the hell were they protecting this jerk, of all people?

"What do you do, Tazuna-san?" Sakura, as chatty as ever, asked politely.

He grumbled for a few moments, "Eh, for a living?"

"Yes."

"Well, I'm a foreman at a construction site ordinarily, but recently I've moved into bridge building for work."

The girl latched onto the topic as something to fill the silence and continued in her line of questioning. About bridges and his training and his village and his family. He answered the inquiries with little effort and briefly considered asking Kakashi to make her shut the hell up. But she seemed to be a nice girl... And she was risking her life... The least he could do was humor the poor girl.

And so they chatted away, distracting everyone but Kakashi, as they walked over a puddle and into a trap.

Kakashi was wrapped in chains and seemed to be ripped apart. Two men with sharp pointed gauntlets had done the deed. The stood on either side of the group. Tazuna's heart was beating a mile a minute.

Naruto unsealed Leivateinn just in time to block a kunai thrown by an unseen enemy in the treeline. At his side, Sasuke had deflected a kunai of his own that was aimed at Sakura. Tazuna shouted and Naruto barely managed to put himself between a raised Katana and his charge.

A man with grey hair swept behind his head and coal black eyes was smirking at him. "How would you like to die today?"

_LVL 75._

* * *

From the Files of Majin Baal

Hatake Kakashi: Lvl 243 (With Sharingan Lvl 288)

Hp 8122 Sp 1948

Atk 6412 Def 6707

Int 3812 Res 4506

Hit 4885 Spd 6262

Kunai

Atk: 100 Hit: 10 Spd: 10

Flak Vest

Def: 300 Res: 50 Spd: -5

Mask

Int: 50 Res: 50 Spd: 50

Icha Icha Paradise

Hp: 200 Sp: 200 Hit: -50 Atk: -23 Res: 200 Int: -29 Spd: -500


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

* * *

"Sasuke!" Naruto grabbed Tazuna and threw him forcefully several meters away from the ambush that they found themselves in.

While Naruto threw the client, Sasuke unsealed his Falcon Lance (Naruto had placed the seal on him, after much convincing) and charged in at the Grey Haired man who merely continued to smirk at the quickly made plan. He stepped aside from Sasuke's lunge and lashed out with a quick slice to Sasuke's neck.

Sasuke only just managed to sway back in time but was rewarded with the tiniest of nicks on his throat. A paper's width from death.

Sakura was largely defenseless from the self-proclaimed Demon Brothers and Naruto dashed in quickly to try and defend her. She sloppily rolled away from an attack from one brother, but was then about to be set upon by the other. Her green eyes widened in fear and before she could scream Naruto had already pushed her – not so gently – to safety. He became a whirling wind storm and he shouted, "Hurricane Slash!" Gozu managed to escape the swirling winds, but Meizu took a nasty slash to his midsection.

Gozu rushed to help his brother but Naruto had more pressing matters to attend to. Sasuke had taken a few wounds from the skilled demon Shinobi, but nothing life-threatening so far. Naruto tapped his pointer finger to his thumb and grabbed the kunai out of the air. He sent it at the demon, who merely turned and caught it between his fingers. "How very basic."

"Dammit! Who sent you? Was it Baal?"

"Hahaha... You think Baal is the only entity with stakes in this world? I merely do as I am paid to. Lets say you've managed to make an enemy in a very high place." The Shinobi said even as he swept through their combined attacks like they were nothing. His Katana stabbed at Naruto's chest – it sunk in a bit before the blond took a hurried step backwards, lashing out at the sword with a kick as he retreated. A trail of blood followed the Katana as it was bounced backwards but the Shinobi's grip did not falter.

He laughed cruelly and spoke once more, "Even now, your client is probably dead. I have two subordinates hidden in the trees." Tazuna tensed and began to look through the treeline, what was that shape?

"My, my, my. That would be a problem wouldn't it." A very mysterious voice rang out throughout the clearing.

_Ugh, that voice?!_

Two bodies fell into the clearing with a thump.

"Never fear! The Mysterious Woman has arrived!" A cloaked figure entered the clearing, crouched next to the fallen demons.

"Who the hell are you?!" That was Tazuna speaking, he was untouched thankfully.

"Eh, just a force of Chaos in this world. Well, every world." She shrugged.

The Shinobi that Naruto and Sasuke were fighting seemed to shrink back. He was downright terrified. Once Naruto bothered to check the woman's level... _Lvl 3320. _OH FUCK.

"Fine! I'll leave! No sense losing my life over this contract!" The Shinobi said and prepared to run away.

"Nonsense! Continue your fight... I just want to see how _this_ one does with a sword." She walked over to Naruto, who was absolutely tongue tied. "What's your name, kid? I already know it, but I want to hear you say it."

He snapped out of his daze long enough to level Leivateinn at her. "Who are you? What do you want from this place?" This was a VERY powerful demon. Certainly powerful enough to turn the whole world to ash.

"No, no, no... I asked **you **a question." She smiled at him from beneath her cloak. All Naruto could see was the bottom half of the woman's face, an impenetrable shadow covered her eyes.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto." Leivateinn had not moved from it's position pointing at her chest.

She was gone.

And then she was behind him - leaning over him as she was easily a foot taller. She grasped the Pravda Necklace and leaned in close to Naruto's ear with her lips. "Tell Laharl I say hello."

He turned around to confront her with his sword, his face a blushing mess, but she was already gone.

The Mysterious Woman stood next to Sasuke now, who was standing over by Sakura and the Demon Brothers. "Not a bad choice for your first vassal." She smirked at him, "A little weak though."

The Uchiha glared daggers at the woman, uncaring of her wickedly high level.

She was back by the bodies before anyone could even blink, "Oh yeah... Your sensei is busy at the moment. I let one of my pet dragons loose... Whoops." The Mysterious Woman disappeared.

"Did she say dragon?" Tazuna asked. Perhaps it was because the man could not feel chakra, but anyone with an inkling of how to feel could feel it POURING off of the powerful demon. Sakura had nearly blacked out from the raw power.

* * *

Kakashi was running out of ideas. This winged beast of a reptile was truly a fearsome foe. And frankly it was ridiculous. Who ever heard of a dragon in this day and age? Perhaps hundreds of years ago, but now? If not for the sheer speed difference, Kakashi did not doubt that this dragon would have splattered him into the ground. Damn that insane woman who had sent it his way.

He dodged away from a frenzied claw slash and landed on on the trunk of a nearby tree standing on it with the use of chakra. His hands went through some very familiar signs and the electric chakra began to build up in the palm of his hand. He dashed down the tree and towards the roaring beast. It let out a blast of fire from it's gaping maw, but thanks to his Sharingan, Kakashi managed to divert his course. His Raikiri sliced it's way into the dragon's chest and stayed embedded in the flesh long enough to cook the dragon from the inside out.

The dragon fell to the ground twitching and sizzling and Kakashi breathed an audible sigh of relief. "What. The. Actual. Fuck?" He asked himself and nudged the reptile with his toe. "THE AMBUSH!"

Kakashi pushed off from the ground with a speed he had not needed since his ANBU days and his sore muscles complained at him for it. Jeez, he was out of shape. He ignored the inflamed muscle and poured on the speed. The trees faded away to blurs and he leapt into the clearing ready to kill quickly and without mercy.

He was pleasantly surprised. His team had managed to whittle down the attacking force to one. Sakura was standing near the Demon Brothers who were huddled on the ground bleeding, the ones who had initiated the ambush. Two more cadavers were a little further away and didn't seem to be anyone he recognized from the bingo-book.

Naruto and Sasuke worked in tandem to keep their opponent off guard. Naruto struck high and Sasuke came in low, the opponent seemed to be tiring and could not get a decent attack off. The blond ninja unsealed a kunai in his left hand and as he spun into a slash with his sword he followed through and threw the kunai at very close range. The Shinobi raised his Katana and sent the projectile away.

"IMPALER!" Sasuke shouted and brought his spear down over his head down onto the Shinobi – who slid away. Naruto followed up and sent a burst of a Wind spell to keep the man off balance, Sasuke had darted in and managed to gore the man in the chest with his Falcon Lance.

Naruto raised Leivateinn up high and came down onto the demon's head. The blade slid right through the flesh and ended the Shinobi's life. Naruto let out a hearty sigh and his shoulders relaxed as he tried to regain his breath.

Kakashi could not explain the feeling of relief and outright joy that he felt at that moment. He approached his team, all smiles. "Sorry I'm late... A dragon attacked me."

Naruto leaned against his trusty sword - exhausted as he was he did not care whether Kakashi saw Leivateinn or not. He said with a grin on his face, "For once, Sensei, I believe you."

* * *

The Jounin patched up his team as quickly as possible. Sakura was largely uninjured except for a few scrapes – she had complained at Naruto for saving her life so roughly. Naruto seemed to be in good shape despite the apparent blood loss from the wound he had taken to his chest. It was Sasuke who concerned him, during the battle he had taken quite a bit of damage from the Shinobi before Naruto had arrived to help. He claimed that he was fine, but that just wasn't true, at least not from what he could see. Sasuke should have been unconscious or worse.

"There is quite a bit of explaining to be done, Tazuna." Kakashi spoke abruptly and without manners.

The bridge-builder locked his eyes onto Kakashi's and lost the brief staring match. He rubbed the back of his neck and glanced away, towards the children, ironically enough. He swallowed thickly and nervously adjusted his glasses. "E-explain what?"

"I think you know exactly what I mean." This could be considered unprofessional, but Kakashi was not in the mood for pleasantries. He spiked his killing intent to dangerous levels and focused them at the old man.

Tazuna writhed under the mental pressure and fell to his knees. "PLEASE! Ok! OK! Fine, I lied about the mission, but please heed my words!"

Kakashi allowed the killing intent to drop. His team was now watching with full attention. He had set them to the task of arranging the bodies so that they may be sealed away. A task which he would assist Naruto with – sealing away bodies was different from kunai. But first, to get answers. "Go ahead."

"My village... The entire land of Waves is being choked from within by a tyrant!" His eyes were full of fire as he spoke. "We used to live off of the ocean, shipping goods and fishing, but now that Gato has enforced his absurd laws and taxes we can't make a dime! Starving children and orphans line the streets and our cemeteries are full of those who have been made an **example **of. Even when we pooled our money, ALL OF IT, we could only afford a C-ranked mission..." He choked up and a tear came down to his cheek, "I didn't mean to lie! It was all I could do... to help my people..."

"The Hokage is a kind man, he may have worked out a payment plan for when the village is back on it's feet and can actually pay its dues. Deceiving us and the village as a whole is utterly unforgivable. My team is ill suited for a mission of this magnitude. The fact that they survived the ambush is a true miracle..." Kakashi shook his head and continued. "You have put their lives at risk, and they are the future of Konoha. For that reason I must execute the punishment for those who seek to harm the village." He pulled out a kunai and advanced on the still kneeling man.

Tazuna watched and waited with awe as his life was about to end. There was no point in fighting it. He saw the way those children fought, they were skilled beyond measure, and this man was considered the elite of his village. If he chose to exact retribution then it was hopeless to fight. Death would surely come.

"Wait!" The boy, the one who wanted to kill him before the mission even started, had come to Tazuna's aid and stood blocking his Sensei. "Don't kill him."

Kakashi sighed and put his kunai away. "This man is worst sort of liar. Despite his motivations, we as shinobi of the Leaf cannot allow this sort to walk away. If word gets out that we are merciful to those who would deceive us then more and more of our missions would turn out like this, far more dangerous than initially indicated."

"But he did it for his village! It was the only thing he thought would work." Naruto turned to Tazuna and grinned. "I was wrong about you, old man, you're not half bad."

"Naruto, we can't forgive this man." Kakashi insisted, though he was proud that Naruto's morals weren't too skewed.

_This is a little foolish. It might just be best for you to return home with your sensei, this isn't your fight, Naruto._

When Naruto spoke it was both to Kakashi and Laharl, "You saw how effective Sasuke and I were. Sakura also managed to ensure Tazuna wasn't hurt."

The pink-haired genin lowered her head at that complete lie. The things she had seen from her teammates were amazing and outright confusing. They fought at a level well above her and appeared to have gained an ability for teamwork that didn't involve her. Was Naruto just covering for her weakness in front of their Sensei?

"Tazuna is a good man, even if he lied to us it was only so that he could protect everyone he cares for. If I've learned anything recently its that you have to protect the people you care about if you want to keep them alive." Naruto unsealed Leivateinn and stabbed it into the ground in front of him. "If seeking to keep the ones you cherish is a crime, then you should kill me too Kakashi-sensei."

_Hmm... Their deaths really did affect you._

"Fine, Naruto. You win." Kakashi approached Tazuna and helped him to his feet. "Against my better judgment, we will continue this mission. But, Tazuna, you're going to explain EVERYHING."

Tazuna gulped and tried to keep his knees from shaking. He had come so close to the end. "Y-yes, of course."

Kakashi went over and sealed up the bodies quickly. Naruto and Sasuke had managed to kill five opponents. The demon brothers were a pair of chuunin rank ninja, and despite not being very powerful should have been well above his team's abilities. The other three opponents were unknown to him, but the last one he had seen alive was not a slouch, although not anything impressive. It seemed the boys were hiding something from him. That sword of Naruto's was of extremely high quality, Kakashi could tell immediately. And since when did Sasuke even know how to use a spear of all things? He walked over to his team which had fallen into formation around Tazuna.

"Naruto, Sasuke... You will explain everything to me too. Later. Tazuna you may begin."

Naruto grimaced at the declaration but remained silent. This had not been unexpected.

"Gato, the wealthy shipping magnate is after my head. To the world he is just a business man, but he has a dark secret. He ships drugs and weapons and all manner of illegal goods to places all over the world. He takes over cities and vulnerable nations with his thugs and hired shinobi. He's a real nasty son of a bitch. It was about a year ago when he took an interest in Wave country..."

* * *

The road to Wave seemed longer and harder now that they had been in combat and the threat of Gato's hired shinobi hung over all of their heads. Kakashi briefly considered setting up camp for the night, but the possibility of another ambush would be too great. If only Tazuna were able to set a better pace. After much walking they came to a small ferry that would take them over the misty water and into the small country. The boat ride was silent, the tension palpable in the air. Kakashi could visualize another ambush coming in any number of ways. The unfinished bridge that loomed beside them as their small vessel skimmed over the water would have given an attacking group a great opportunity to get the drop on them, literally. And considering that two of the previous attackers were Mist ninja, the water underneath them could hide any number of enemies waiting to strike. He took a deep calming breath, he could handle anything thrown at his team. It was his duty.

Sakura was silent now, she was beyond attempting to make conversation. The attack earlier, the first truly dangerous situation she had come across as a ninja had shaken her to her very core. During the fight she had felt paralyzed and completely unable to think – let alone fight against deadly enemies! If not for Sasuke and Naruto's swift intervention she would have died. Even with their valiant efforts it had been a close call.

That woman had saved their lives. She seemed to be interested in Naruto, of all people, and had barely sent Sasuke a second glance. What was it that she said? Sasuke was Naruto's vassal? What an insane woman to think that Sasuke would ever serve Naruto... Besides that, she seemed to be unbelievably powerful, or just fast, but Sakura highly doubted that. Apparently, Kakashi had to fight a dragon in order to get back to them. A dragon that the woman released, her 'pet dragon'. Just what the hell was all of that?

She looked over at Naruto, who's face was set into a grim expression. Did he know that woman? She seemed awfully familiar with him.

"Something on your mind, Sakura?" Naruto asked as he finally tuned in to her observations.

"N-no..." She stammered out and looked down to the ground. Why was it so difficult to look her teammate in the eye?

It was just Naruto.

_He swept in under a full swing from the Shinobi's katana and fired back with a few quick slashes of his sword. The opponent was unfazed but it left enough room for Sasuke to stab in with his spear, which was blocked._

Yet why were they so much better than her? Sasuke she could understand, but when did Naruto eclipse her so fully? He performed well in the Academy but never had he given any indication that he was so strong. She was useless to her team.

_I am a liability, not a teammate. _The thought almost overwhelmed her and everything she had done until now was called into question. Why was she a shinobi? She had wanted to help protect her home. How could she even call herself a protector of Konoha if she couldn't even protect herself?

Sasuke pulled her down by the strap of her backpack and Naruto nearly slammed Tazuna to the dirt in his haste. A massive sword cut the air where her neck had been just a second before. _Oh, no._

The blade continued in its path and stuck into a tree just ahead of them. A large man appeared, standing atop the giant cleaver's handle. He was shirtless, wearing cow print arm warmers and vertically striped pants. His forehead protector was secured around his head so that the insignia for Mist was above ear.

He spoke through a wrapping of cloth that covered his mouth, "No wonder the Demon Brothers didn't come back, they had to deal with the Copycat Kakashi. Where is that Sharingan eye of yours?"

"Shit." Their sensei cursed and pulled his forehead protector up to stop covering his left eye. The iris was a bloody red color and three black tomoe mark marked it in a ring around the pupil. "This guy is well beyond you two, even with your hidden abilities," he said calmly to Naruto and Sasuke. "Protect Tazuna." They nodded. "Sakura, even if the boys get dragged away, you must remain with Tazuna at all times. You are the last line of defense, do you understand?"

"Y-yes..."

"Enough chattering with your brats, Kakashi. You are going to either hand me the old man on a silver platter, or I'm going to kill you and your little band of wanna-be shinobi."

"Just as I expected from the Demon of the Bloody Mist, Momochi Zabuza." Kakashi said as he squared off against the missing nin.

Zabuza let out a short bark of laughter and shook his head, "I am flattered that a prestigious ninja such as yourself has heard of a lowly criminal such as me. During my days spent as a headhunter, you were a prime target – I still remember your entry: _The man who has copied over 1000 jutsu, Copycat Kakashi._ Quite the bounty you had, in some countries."

"I suppose we all make enemies in this line of work." Kakashi answered flatly. He wasn't one for small talk during his fights.

"That we do, that we do." He crouched down onto his sword's handle. "I wonder if your genin know just how many lives you've ended. Fathers ripped from sons and daughters, targets painted on the back of innocent men and woman by the client with the largest wallet. Oh the wonders of contract killing."

"My team knows that as shinobi we take lives for the good of our village."

"Such lovely propaganda you maggots spew over there as you hide in your leaves. Know this, children, we shinobi are born in blood and we die the same." Zabuza said as he focused his attention and his killer intent solely at the genin in the group.

Sakura began to shake slightly and seemed to be on the verge of either tears or passing out.

"Enough of this talk." Kakashi said as he took a fighting stance.

Zabuza had already reappeared standing on the surface of the pond nearby. "Fair enough." His hands settled into a seal, "Ninpo: Hidden Mist no Jutsu!"

A thick impenetrable mist sunk into the battlefield and Kakashi tensed as he remembered that Zabuza was a true master at Silent Killing techniques.

Zabuza's voice, sinister as ever, creeped through the fog and into Sakura's ear. The man could have been anywhere, a mile away - or standing right beside her, whispering his hate directly into her ear. She shook as he rattled off targets, "Brain, Heart, Jugular Vein, Kidney, Lungs, Spine, Liver, Femoral Artery. 8 choices to seal your death, but what a shame I can only choose one on each of you before you die. Still, that's five choices."

She swayed on her legs, knees weak. Sakura's eyelids shuttered and she began to teeter back and forth.

"We're going to make it through this." Naruto said and steadied his teammate with his hand. "This guy doesn't stand a chance."

"Such youthful optimism." Zabuza spoke from directly behind the Genin, between them and Tazuna. His massive sword was poised to strike.

Naruto's eyes went wide and he had barely managed to turn his head when Kakashi sped past him and directly at the Nuke-nin. The two traded blows that Naruto's eyes could barely follow and Kakashi had copied Zabuza's Mizu Bunshin or Water Clone and used it against him. He rounded back on Kakashi and hit him into the nearby pond.

They were so damn fast!

Kakashi tried to get his footing on the water after being knocked in, but was held down like the water had a mind of it's own.

Zabuza smirked down at Kakashi as he appeared standing over him. The water in Kakashi's immediate vicinity formed up into a large sphere that had swallowed up the Jounin. "Water Prison no Jutsu," he said as he placed a hand on the sphere to stabilize it.

"Get out of here and bring Tazuna to safety!" Kakashi shouted at his team, even as he cursed himself. How could he have made such a foolish mistake? It must have been the fight with the dragon tiring him out, there's no way he would have made such an obvious and stupid error. (AN: Seriously, Canon Kakashi has no excuse for getting trapped in this jutsu.)

Sasuke looked at his sensei and sighed, he turned to Tazuna, "Sir, I think it's best that we free our sensei, instead of trying to make it on our own."

"Yeah, that was pretty lame Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto shouted to his sensei.

Sakura asked, "What are we going to do? Sensei is trapped and we can't possibly fight Zabuza."

With a smirk, Naruto walked towards Zabuza with his hands in his pockets. "He's trapped all the way over there next to Kakashi. That's a pretty dumb jutsu if you think about it. Leaves you just as immobile as the target."

Zabuza smirked at the kid's cheek but the smirk turned vicious and he created another Water Clone. "Just because I can't move doesn't mean I can't kill you"

Naruto looked at the clone and nearly burst out laughing. "This clone is much weaker than you, am I right?" Sasuke joined in as he snickered at the clone.

Zabuza's eyes narrowed and he answered, "About one tenth of my power, but against you weaklings it should be enough." Kakashi remembered that his genin were quite competent. For genin. But a water clone was pretty weak and they might just free him from the Water Prison jutsu.

"Wow, that's pretty impressive." Naruto said with a low whistle. For whatever reason, he could read the Lvl of this Clone Jutsu. _Lvl 28. _He figured that it was due to the clone being made up of only chakra, a form of energy.

Demons themselves were simply energy condensed and shaped into a body. As one's energy matured they grew older and stronger. Although Lvl was not necessarily a part of that process – Lvls are more of an indication of the density of a demon's energy.

The Demon Water that Sasuke drank had essentially ripped the chakra gates right out of his body and the reaction had turned him into mostly energy. As a result he had the potential to be much stronger than he ever would as a human.

Kakashi was a seriously strong human if he was fighting at around the same level as Zabuza, who must have had a level somewhere equivalent to about 280.

Naruto turned to his vassal and said quietly, "Kakashi's already suspicious so just go all out. It would be strange if we got weaker."

"I'll take this guy." Sasuke said as he dashed in at the clone - his Falcon Lance in hand. The clone was taken aback by Sasuke's speed and he quickly received a small nick on his chest, as he had managed to get away from the brunt of the attack. The small cut was enough to spill the Clone onto the ground as it turned back into simple water. "Easy."

Naruto stepped forward to Sasuke's side and he said "Let's try out that move." Leivateinn popped into his hand and he held it out at Zabuza. Green energy swirled around the tip. "Mega Wind!"

Sasuke flashed through handseals, "Katon: Karyuu Endan!" the dragon of flame moved in to merge with the green tempest of wind that arched upwards and then begun to descend onto Zabuza. The resulting technique was a much longer green and red fire dragon that crashed down towards him.

" Arashi Karyuu Endan no Jutsu!" (Tempest Fire Dragon Missile Technique)

Zabuza smirked and released the technique while leaping away. These kids were something else, he thought. Especially the blond, as that wind jutsu was like nothing he had ever seen. Either that sword of his was special and could produce wind, or the kid had an insanely high affinity for it. There had been no handseals at all and it seemed decently powerful, enough to wound him a bit. The fire dragon was also impressive from the black haired kid, but their combined technique would have taken a nice chunk out of him.

"Those two could be a problem. Maybe I should have taken that blond woman's offer like the Demon Brother's did. Feh... Haku!"

Senbon needles rained down at Tazuna, they sunk into flesh. Sakura had pushed him out of the way and took the hits herself. She fell to the ground, unmoving.

Naruto's eyes widened as he watched her drop. They had gotten so wrapped up in Zabuza they had forgotten to protect Sakura. Stupid Sakura who thought he was a joke and who couldn't shut up for five minutes. The girl who broke his heart when they were young, before he ever knew Laharl. The third wheel of their team now lay on the floor – not breathing.

"Shit... Sakura." Sasuke grumbled out as he processed the scene in front of him.

"HAHAHA! Good move from that girl of yours, Kakashi! She saved the client at least." Zabuza said as he whipped his cleaver up over his shoulder at the furious Konoha jounin. Kakashi's movements were now brutal, each movement faster than the last as he lashed out at the still laughing Nuke-nin.

Kakashi used a quick doton jutsu which sent earth spikes thrusting upwards at Zabuza, nearly impaling his chest. Zabuza cut the piece that was about to strike him with a slash of his sword. Kakashi followed up with several kicks aimed at Zabuza who swayed through the blows. "You're too angry, Kakashi. You'll never strike me when your moves are so painfully obvious!" He cut down at Kakashi's head but his Sharingan caught the movement in time. He narrowly missed being cut in two.

* * *

Haku watched in a strange mixture of morbid curiosity and sadness. The poor pink-haired girl who had interfered in the kill had been struck sloppily and whether she would die or not was only a mere matter of chance. It was refreshing in a way to see the genuine shock and emotion display itself on their faces. At the same time, it was heart-wrenching to have caused this tragedy.

The blond boy had dipped his head and seemed to be examining the dirt – his dark-haired teammate scanned the treeline in Haku's direction, his eyes now a deep red color as they moved furiously over the foliage.

Haku took a deep breath.

First, the bridge-builder would have to die.

Then, if Zabuza willed it, the two genin would die as well.

She heaved a sigh and readied another fistful of senbon - prepared to strike.


End file.
